New Website Helps Find Low/No-Cost Meds

According to Reuters, the website, HelpingPatients.org, which went live on Tuesday, April 6, 2004, is published by PhRMA, which is the drug industry's lobbying group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

The site itself promises complete confidentiality to those who use its services. Member companies include such well-known names as Abbott Laboratories, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co., Novartis, Pfizer, Schering-Plough, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals - 48 in all. Some drugs that would be available through the available manufacturers include Depakote, Paxil, Effexor, Wellbutrin, Zyprexa, Seroquel, Prozac, Strattera, Geodon, Trileptal and Topamax.

While it may be that this site was constructed to take some pressure off drug companies who have been lobbying against the importation of low-cost Canadian medications (Reuters), there is no doubt that making it easier for the underinsured and uninsured to find ways to obtain needed medication can only be a good thing for everyone.