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Consumer Reports to launch comparative drug Web site
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The magazine best known for giving American consumers a one-stop comparison-shopping guide has parlayed this expertise into the medical realm in launching Best Buy Drugs, a comparative Web site for medications.
Consumer Reports launched the Web site as an “educational and outreach initiative” that will compare medications in terms of price, effectiveness and safety, according to a report in HealthDay.
Best Buy Drugs takes its drug effectiveness information from the Drug Effectiveness Review Project (DERP), according to the report. DERP is based at the Oregon Health & Science University and is overseen by the Oregon Evidence-based Practice Center.
“DERP looks at all of the credible studies that have been done worldwide, and their process is just impeccable,” said Gail Shearer, a health policy director for Consumers Union. Consumers Union publishes Consumer Reports. The magazine group will add additional data and analysis, the HealthDay report said.
According to the report, the first three drug categories to be evaluated on Best Buy Drugs will be the cholesterol-lowering statin class of drugs, proton pump inhibitors for heartburn and acid reflux, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for arthritis and pain; the site will continue to add more each month until it reaches 20 categories.
An outreach program to physicians, pharmacists, senior citizens and low-income groups is also planned, according to the report.