TRUST
- 92% of physicians believe OTC medicines are effective and 91% believe these medicines are safe.
- 87% of physicians believe OTC medicines are an important part of overall healthcare.
- 89% of consumers believe OTC medicines are an important part of their overall family healthcare.
- U.S. adults believe over-the-counter medicines are just as safe and effective as prescription medicines when taken according to directions.
- Consumers depend on OTC cough medicines as a first-response to relieve cough symptoms for themselves and their children:
- Two-thirds (66%) of surveyed adults and 70% of surveyed parents rely on OTC cough medicines to treat their own and their children’s symptoms.
- Over the past year more than half of U.S. adults (57%) have taken cough medicines and 71% of parents have administered these medicines to their children aged four and older.
AFFORDABILITY
- The availability of OTC medicines creates significant value for the U.S. healthcare system – $102 billion in annual savings relative to alternatives.
- OTC medicines provide two key sources of avoided cost:
- $77 billion in clinical cost savings (avoided doctor’s office visits and diagnostic testing); and
- $25 billion in drug cost savings (lower-priced OTCs versus higher-priced prescription medicines).
- Nearly one-third of the $102 billion in annual savings is for consumers treating cough/cold and flu symptoms.
- For every dollar spent on OTC medicines, the U.S. healthcare system saves $6 to 7.
- By keeping the American workforce healthy and at work, OTC medicines offer $23 billion in potential productivity benefits from avoided doctor’s office visits and time not having to be away from work for medical appointments.
- The annual retail sales of OTC medicines to the 60 million consumers who would otherwise not seek treatment are $4 billion. This figure is the direct value of increased access provided by OTC medicines.
- Consumers and taxpayers could save $5.2 billion annually if half of the unnecessary visits to primary care physicians were avoided by more self-care, including greater use of OTC medicines.
- 86% of U.S. adults believe responsible OTC medicine use helps lower healthcare costs for people like them.
- 88% of physicians recommend patients try to address minor ailments with self-care interventions, including the use of OTC medicines, before seeking professional care.
- 77% of consumers agree that OTC medicines provide convenient treatment whenever symptoms arise.
- 68% of consumers agree that OTC medicines save them money.
ACCESS
- 93% of physicians agree that it is important that medicines for minor ailments be available over-the-counter.
- Nearly 7 in 10 parents have given their child an OTC medicine late at night to help treat a sudden medical symptom.
- 89% of physicians agree that responsible use of over-the-counter medicines can help to ease the burden on medical professionals.
- Half of parents report that an OTC medicine has helped keep their child from missing school.
- 81% of U.S. adults use OTC medicines as a first response to minor ailments.
- 80% of consumers have used an over-the-counter medicine in the last year.
- On average, physicians say about 10% of office visits result from minor ailments which could be self-managed by patients, including by the use of OTC medicines.
- This amounts to over 40 million appointments each year that could be avoided with self-care.
- 76% of physicians agree that the availability of over-the-counter medicines help make managing patient health easier.
- 46% of U.S. adults who believe OTC medicines are important believe so because they do not need a doctor’s visit to use them.
- The availability of OTC medicines – off the shelf, without a prescription – provides symptomatic relief for an estimated 60 million people who otherwise would not seek treatment.
- Without affordable and accessible OTCs, underserved populations would depend more heavily on the highest-cost medical care for minor ailments.
- 1 in 4 Medicaid patients and 1 in 10 uninsured individuals would seek treatment in an Emergency Department as their first recourse for treatment.
- Additional Emergency Department visits, primarily by patients on Medicaid and uninsured individuals, will drive up nearly $4 billion in healthcare costs to the system each year.
- There were 1.5 billion patient visits to medical offices in 2008, including 992 million visits during which patients saw a doctor.
- Of these 992 million visits to doctors, approximately 525 million were to primary care physicians.
- On average, physicians say more than 10% of office visits result from minor ailments that could be self-managed by patients, including by the use of OTC medicines. This amounts to tens of millions of unnecessary appointments each year that could be avoided.
- Reducing the unnecessary doctor visits even by half, from 10% to 5% (which would amount to approximately 26.3 million visits), could lessen the burden on physicians and help address the widely reported shortage of primary care physicians in the United States.
- 78% of consumers believe that requiring a prescription for OTC cough medicine would place a burden on them and their family because they would need to visit a doctor.
- 74% of consumers believe that requiring a prescription for OTC cough medicine would place a burden on them and their family because they would need to take time away from other responsibilities, such as work or school.
- 71% of consumers believe that requiring a prescription for OTC cough medicine would limit their ability to provide care for their children.
- As such, 76% of consumers believe OTC cough medicines should remain available over-the-counter without restrictions.
EMPOWERMENT
- 96% of U.S. adults believe OTC medicines make it easy for individuals to care for minor medical ailments.
- 86% of U.S. adults agree that medical visits for minor ailments are unnecessary because of the availability of OTC medicines.
- 93% of U.S. adults prefer to treat their minor ailments with OTC medicines before seeking professional care.
- 85% of U.S. parents prefer to treat their children’s minor ailments with an OTC medicine before seeking professional care.
- “Caregiver moms” miss twice as many days of work annually to care for sick children as they do to care for themselves. This number would be higher if parents did not have OTC medicines to help children avoid missing school.
- 61 million consumers have avoided missing work, school, or other scheduled appointments due to illness because they had access to OTC cough medicines to alleviate their symptoms (based on census data).
- 8.5 million households have children aged four or older who have avoided missing school or daycare due to illness because their parents had access to OTC cough medicines to treat their cough symptoms (based on census data).
- 75% of consumers agree that OTC medicines provide relief of their cough symptoms so they can get a good night's rest.
- 68% of consumers agree that OTC medicines allow them to stay productive at work or school when they are not feeling well.
- Parents view OTC cough medicines as providing effective relief for themselves and their children, any time of the day:
- 76% of parents believe OTC cough medicines provide relief of their children’s symptoms so they can get a good night’s rest.
- 60% of parents believe OTC cough medicines allow their children to stay productive at school when they’re not feeling well.
CHPA Commissioned Research Initiatives 2010-2012: