Americans Attitudes About Pharmaceuticals
Americans Attitudes About Pharmaceuticals
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View of drug companies: Some
appreciation, much concern
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Updated
3/4/2008 12:03 PM
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View of drug companies: Some
appreciation, much concern
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Americans appreciate the drug industry's medical
breakthroughs in recent decades and say prescription drugs have improved
people's lives. They also view drug companies as too powerful and too focused
on profits. A majority say the government should limit the price of
prescription drugs.
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Percent with a favorable view of:
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Doctors
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81%
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Food manufacturers
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71%
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Banks
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69%
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Airlines
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61%
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Drug companies
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47%
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Health insurance companies
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40%
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Oil companies
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29%
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Have prescription drugs developed over the past 20
years made lives better, worse or not made much difference for:
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People in the USA
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You and your family
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A lot better
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52%
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44%
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A little better
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19%
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18%
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Not much difference
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14%
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31%
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A little worse
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3%
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1%
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A lot worse
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7%
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3%
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No opinion
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5%
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3%
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Do prescription drugs reduce the need for expensive
medical procedures and hospitalization?
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Yes
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59%
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No
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32%
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No opinion
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9%
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Is the cost of prescription drugs reasonable or
unreasonable?
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Unreasonable
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79%
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Reasonable
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18%
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No opinion
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3%
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To what extent are profits made by drug companies a
factor contributing to the price of prescription drugs?
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Major factor
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79%
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Minor factor
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14%
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Not a factor
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5%
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No opinion
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2%
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Do drug companies make too much profit, not enough or
about the right amount?
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Too much
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74%
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About right amount
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22%
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Not enough
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2%
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No opinion
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2%
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Which comes closer to your view (about drug companies)?
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They are too concerned about making profits and not
concerned enough about helping people
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70%
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The balance of concern between making profits and helping
people is about right
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28%
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No opinion
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2%
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Percent who say there needs to be more government
regulation for each of the following:
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Limiting the price of prescription drugs
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64%
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Making sure prescription drugs are safe for people to use
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44%
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Making sure advertising statements about benefits and
possible side effects are not misleading
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43%
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At least one of the above
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80%
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Percent who say drug companies have too much influence
on each of the following:
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Laws and regulations passed by Congress
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50%
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Efforts to change the health care system
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44%
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Which drugs are approved by the FDA
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42%
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At least one of the above
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65%
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Source: USA
TODAY/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health
poll of 1,695 adults nationwide, conducted by ICR, Jan. 3-23. Margin of sampling error, +/3 percentage points.
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