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Discounts by pharmacies and drug makers, state purchasing pools, generic drugs, and disease management programs are among the approaches being used to help people save money on their prescription drugs.
In January 2005, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) unveiled the final regulations that established the new Medicare prescription drug benefit and improved access to health care through Medicare.
The regulations, part of the Medicare Modernization Act signed into law by President Bush in December 2003, created the first prescription drug benefit for beneficiaries in fee-for-service Medicare. The new benefit takes effect in January 2006. Beneficiaries will be able to choose from an array of plans beginning this November.
A key element of the strategy to reduce the cost of prescription drugs is the use of generic drugs, which are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. The average price of a generic prescription drug can be 30 percent to 80 percent less than the price of the brand-name version of the same drug, even though both drugs are chemically identical and work the same way in the body. For more on how to reduce the costs of prescription medications, see our cover story, titled "Saving Money on Prescription Drugs."
Bladder control problems, called urinary incontinence, affect 1 in 10 Americans ages 65 or older, according to the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health. Symptoms range from mild leaking to wetting that can't be controlled.
Although incontinence is common among older people, aging doesn't cause the condition, the NIA says. Urinary tract infections, certain medicines, or even weak muscles can lead to incontinence. For more on bladder control problems, read "Controlling Urinary Incontinence."
Epilepsy is a disorder in which clusters of nerve cells in the brain called neurons sometimes fail to signal normally. The results, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), can include strange sensations, emotions, behaviors and, at times, muscle contractions, convulsions, and unconsciousness.
The disorder has many possible causes. And anything that disturbs the normal pattern of neuron activity--from illness to brain damage to abnormal brain development--can result in seizures, the NINDS says.
Medicines and surgical techniques help about 80 percent of Americans diagnosed with epilepsy control their seizures. The FDA approved a device called a vagus nerve stimulator for use in those whose seizures are not well-controlled by medication. For more on this condition, see our feature article titled "Epilepsy and Seizures Can Occur at Any Age."
We also take a look at a heart drug recently approved by the FDA for use in black patients, the need for the development of medical devices for children, and what to do to reduce the risk of choking in children.
Ray Formanek Jr.
Editor