Guest(s)
Lisa Gill
Topic
Are Generic Drugs Just As Effective As Brand-Names?
Topic Info
Lisa Gill joins Dr. DeSilva to explain that drugmakers shell out billions of dollars each year to target consumers with their ads. In 2009, they spent $4.3 billion to reach consumers and $6.6 billion on promotions aimed at doctors, according to IMS Health, which tracks drug sales and marketing.
And drug ads aimed at convincing consumers to ask for a drug by name are working: In a recent poll by Consumer Reports Health, one in five people said they’d asked for a drug they’d seen on TV and most (59 percent) of them said their doctor agreed to write the prescription.
And drug ads aimed at convincing consumers to ask for a drug by name are working: In a recent poll by Consumer Reports Health, one in five people said they’d asked for a drug they’d seen on TV and most (59 percent) of them said their doctor agreed to write the prescription.
Guest Info
Lisa Gill is the editor for prescription drug coverage for ConsumerReportsHealth.org and for Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs. Prior to her joining Consumer Reports in 2008, Lisa was the editor Retail Pharmacy Management magazine. Before that, as a freelance journalist, Lisa covered health topics for USAToday and the Los Angles Times, as well as technology and business issues for several CNET publications. Lisa was also the editor of two of the first women-oriented websites, Cybergrrl.com and Webgrrls.com, and served as a community discussion board moderator on international issues for the New York Times website. Lisa is a graduate of Indiana University with bachelor degrees in journalism, history and gender studies.
Host
Dr. Derrick DeSilva
Original Air Date
2 / 10 / 2011
