Minnesota health care consumers, medical professionals and Consumers Union staff were joined on June 22 by Gov. Tim Pawlenty in launching the Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs outreach effort in Minnesota.

The Senior Federation, in partnership with Consumers Union and the Minnesota Medical Association, is undertaking an ambitious effort to get free, unbiased information on effectiveness, safety and cost of prescription drugs into hands of consumers concerned about spiraling drug costs. The project provides evidence-based information to counter drug industry marketing that promotes the latest medicines, but not necessarily the most effective or affordable prescriptions. This new outreach effort aims to help seniors, low-income individuals, the uninsured and others access cost-effective medications.

"Consumers for the most part have purchased prescriptions on the "trust us" method...we need transparency. This program will enable patients going to their doctors and providers to be well informed...this is a fantastic tool - good information results in good decisions," said Pawlenty at the June 22 press conference.

The collaboration of Consumers Union and the Minnesota Senior Federation, in partnership with the Minnesota Medical Association, will provide consumers and doctors clear, objective criteria for choosing prescription drugs.

"No longer will patients be led into making medication decisions based on drug companies' marketing of pretty butterflies, pretty pills or beautiful scenery," said Barbara Kaufman, president of the Minnesota Senior Federation-Metro Region. "Using the Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs program, patients, with their physician, will be able to choose medications based on the best clinical evidence of the drug's effectiveness, safety and, in many cases, cost savings."

The information is provided by Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, through its innovative Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs program. The free, public education project provides consumers with easy-to-understand information on side effects safety, effectiveness and cost based on the best available scientific evidence. Drug evaluations and "Best Buys" in more than a dozen drug categories are available at www.CRBestBuyDrugs.org.

The Minnesota Senior Federation will be collaborating with physicians, health plans and pharmacists to counter drug company marketing with easily understood Consumer Reports Best Buy Drug materials. The Federation also will place posters in medical clinic examining rooms and lobbies encouraging patients to talk to their doctor about the Consumer Reports Best Buy Drug program. It is expected that the posters will be appearing in thousands of exam and waiting rooms across Minnesota in the next few months. The ultimate goal is to help Minnesotans who find themselves paying more of their own health care expenses to identify and discuss with their medical providers affordable, effective drugs.

The Minnesota Medical Association will encourage its members to discuss effectiveness, safety and cost of drugs with their patients, and increase physician awareness of the Consumer Reports Best Buy drug information. The MMA is a professional association representing about 9,500 physicians, residents and medical students in the state. "Whether or not our patients take their prescribed medications often depends on whether they can afford them," said David Luehr, M.D., president of the MMA. "This information will help physicians talk to their patients about affordability as well as safety and effectiveness."

"Consumers Union selected Minnesota to be an outreach state because of its leadership in providing quality, affordable health care to residents, as well as the MSF's extensive ties to the target community," said Gail Shearer, project director of Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs. The addition of the state's largest physician group will make Minnesota's outreach effort one of the most comprehensive in the nation, Shearer said.

"We hope to level the playing field for consumers who are confused by all the advertisements for prescription drugs and empower them to make informed decisions with their doctor," Shearer said.

The information is especially critical to Medicare Part D beneficiaries, Shearer said, who face paying the full cost of their medications if they hit the "donut hole" - the gap in the prescription drug coverage.

"Unbiased information about effective, safe and affordable medicine is especially important to Medicare beneficiaries, especially those who are paying the full cost of their drugs when they fall into the feared coverage gap," Shearer said.

Thirteen classes of drugs are analyzed at www.CRBestBuyDrugs.org, including medicines to treat asthma, hay fever, migraine headaches, high cholesterol, arthritis pain, heart disease and high blood pressure, menopause, ADHD and Alzheimer's disease. The information on drug effectiveness is derived from the Drug Effectiveness Review Project (DERP) at the Oregon Health and Science University Evidence-based Practice Center. The DERP project compiles drug effectiveness data for states to use in shaping prescription drug coverage choices for Medicaid programs. The Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs program is funded nationally by grants from the Engelberg Foundation and the National Libraries of Medicine.   

For paper copies of any of the reports, call the Federation at 651/645-0261 or toll free at 877/645-0261.