Why Rx Meds Don't Work

Photo: Christopher Thomas

Americans are definitely living in the 'Land of Plenty'. Most of us have access to some kind of health care and we can usually acquire whatever medications are prescribed:

• Families enrolled in employee-sponsored health coverage usually pay a modest co-pay.


• Many folks who agree to take generic meds get a discount or they can skip the co-pay altogether.


• Low income families receiving Medicaid assistance pay very little, if anything, for their prescriptions.


• Elderly beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Part D enjoy the convenience of having their pills mailed to them.


• Volunteers participating in clinical research get their medication for free and get paid to consume it!


• Depending on circumstances, financially strapped individuals can directly contact drug makers to receive complimentary medications.

So, given all of these options (and many, many more) Americans still have a problem getting well. The problem has been identified and it does not involve flawed formulas, inaccurate dosages, mislabeling, or other critical lapses in the pharmaceutical pipeline. It appears that people don't get better simply because they do not take their medicines as originally prescribed. The precise term for the problem is poor compliance.

Got any leftover pills in your medicine cabinet? Beware, you are part of the poor compliance problem.

Up to 70% of all medication-related USA hospitalizations are due to poor compliance, and that generates approximately $100 billion each year in added health care costs.

Prescriptions for acute problems fare best. Many folks will complete a 5-day pack of Azithromycin. 10 days of amoxicillin is a different story. Again, look in your medicine cabinet.

Now stretch it out for chronic health problems like high blood pressure and patient compliance really slides. More than half of all hypertensives fail to take all their daily meds as directed.

In ophthalmology we encounter the same phenomenon in chronic glaucoma patients. They don't want to go blind but it can be very complicated managing three different eyedrops with three different schedules. Here's a common situation:

Eyedrop #1: Apply twice a day to both eyes twelve hours apart

Eyedrop #2: Apply every morning but not at the same time as Eyedrop #1

Eyedrop #3: Apply every eight hours to the right eye only

Remember, this hypothetical glaucoma patient may have other additional prescribed medications to take as well.

The problem with poor compliance was recently highlighted in a large clinical study involving prescribed vitamin usage in patients with age-related macular degeneration. In an earlier WebMD blog we have discussed the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) and the role of vitamins and antioxidants to slow progression of age-related macular degeneration.

After analyzing the compliance behavior of 332 adult patients consuming an AREDS formula, it was determined that more than one-third were not using them as prescribed - or not at all!

It was former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop who said it best: Drugs don't work in patients who don't take them.

Having problems keeping your medications on track? Why not put all of your drug bottles into one bag and schedule an appointment with your doctor to sort things out. They won't do any good collecting dust in your medicine cabinet!

Related Topics:

• The Power of Postoperative Eyedrops
• Custom-Packaged Pills Cut Confusion

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