Why AARP Supports Evidence-Based Research
Better Information Leads to Better Decision Making
One challenge facing today's users of prescription drugs is to understand the proliferation of medicines designed to treat a single illness. To date, consumers, their doctors and other health care professionals have had almost no single source of comparative information about the effectiveness and safety of the different drugs from which they might choose to treat a specific condition.
Through its collaboration with the Drug Effectiveness Review Project (DERP), a collaboration of 13 state governments and two private organizations, AARP is making available on the Internet better information about the comparative effectiveness of prescription drugs. Anyone with access to a computer can now go to AARP.org and see the results of systematic reviews of past and current research showing how well and how safely various drugs perform in treating a condition. This is objective, independent information compiled by researchers with no ties to the pharmaceutical industry. It can help patients make better health care decisions as well as stretch their health care dollars.
Some interest groups oppose the use of evidence-based research to establish preferred drug lists for state programs such as Medicaid. AARP believes their concerns can be addressed through a variety of consumer protection measures.
AARP sees this research as a vital component in its affordable health care campaign, an effort to secure access to high-quality health care for all Americans.
