Only 22% see medicines as good value

JUST one in five people believe prescription medicines are good value for money, a survey has found.

The finding comes as the debate on how to lower the cost of such medicines intensifies.

Only 22% of respondents said they believed prescription medicines represented good value.

Some 48% said they were not good value, while 30% did not know.

The survey of patients’ attitudes was carried out by Lansdowne Market Research for the Irish Patients’ Association (IPA), and was sponsored by pharmaceutical company Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) Ireland.

It examined both patients’ perceptions about the medical care they received and their attitude towards prescription medicines.

Only those who had visited a doctor or a hospital in the last 12 months were interviewed with a total of 581 interviews.

The vast majority of respondents rated their most recent experience of the system very positively, having high praise for the professionalism of the medical staff who attended them.

But one cause for dissatisfaction was the speed at which they were attended to. Another was the perceived value of prescription medicines.

Of the 48% of respondents who said they did not represent good value for money, half possessed medical cards, which meant they did not have to pay for their prescriptions.

This suggests that the actual cost of the medicines was not the only factor respondents considered when determining whether they were good value.

“Value is a perception,” said IPA chairman, Stephen McMahon. “If you don’t get the necessary information and have a knowledge deficit about your medicine, that may influence your decision.”

He pointed to a finding in the survey whereby, in relation to their last prescription, one-third of people said their doctor did not explain the options regarding the different types of medication available to treat their condition.

Another factor which could determine a person’s perception of value for money, he said, is if they were on a long-term medication but had become inured to its benefits.

It was possible they would then question the necessity of spending so much on the medication.

Nonetheless, Mr McMahon said the survey findings raised questions for pharmaceutical companies and pharmacists as to whether patients were being charged too much.