WASHINGTON — Americans overwhelmingly believe prescription drugs improve their health and quality of life significantly, but almost as many say pharmaceutical companies put profits ahead of consumers, according to a new poll released yesterday.
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The poll also found that a majority of Americans in 2004 said for the first time that drug companies overall do a "bad job" of serving customers. In 1997, when the survey began, 79 percent of those polled said drug companies did a "good job" for consumers.
With public views of the big drug companies becoming more critical, the poll found that a large majority of Americans want the government to do more to reduce drug costs — with 65 percent saying they want more regulation of prices and 73 percent favoring changes that would allow Americans to buy drugs from Canada. More than half, 51 percent, say they want more regulation of drug advertising.
"Rightly or wrongly, drug companies are now the number one villain in the public's eye when it comes to rising health-care costs," Foundation President Drew Altman said.
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