Public Confidence in Drug Companies Declining, Poll Shows

The mounting safety concerns swirling around the pharmaceutical industry are beginning to have a profound effect on the American public's perception of drug companies, according to a recent online poll.

Sixty percent of U.S. adults are "not very confident" or "not confident at all" that drugmakers will publicly disclose information about possible side effects of their products as soon as they have that data, according to a new Harris Interactive survey, which polled 2,404 U.S. adults between Jan. 5 and Jan. 7. Only 5 percent of the survey respondents indicated they are "very confident" that drugmakers will publicly disclose side-effect information in a timely manner.

The skepticism among U.S. consumers was widespread across most age groups, with older respondents expressing the most doubt about drug firms. Sixty-four percent of participants aged 65 or older said they are "not very confident" or "not confident at all" that drugmakers will disclose side-effect information, and 66 percent of respondents aged 50 to 64 expressed the same concerns. Only 3 percent of respondents aged 65 and older said they are "very confident" that drugmakers will release side-effect data as soon as they have it.

Adults aged 18 to 24 were the least skeptical of drug companies, with half of those respondents saying they are "very confident" or "confident" in drugmakers, and the other half saying they are "not very confident" or "not at all confident."

()A href="http://www.fdanews.com/pub/did"