A unique medication Trustpilot has been launched to help amplify patients voices as research reveals that 93% lack trust in pharmaceutical companies.
DrugsDisclosed.com has been launched to give patients more control over their own treatments, with a unique service to share real world experiences of their medicines. New research has underlined the need for pharmaceutical companies to better listen and learn from these experiences, highlighting that a damaging ‘trust deficit’ is opening up between patients and the industry that develops and produces their medicines.
DrugsDisclosed.com is a review platform that offers patients the chance to quickly share and compare their experiences with others using the same medications. The site collates data from over 352,044 unique patient medication reviews from the associated DrugStars medication management app.
Trust deficit
Research carried out by DrugsDisclosed.com and market research partner Userneeds has revealed that patients feel ignored once medicines go to market and regard pharmaceutical companies with suspicion. The survey of more than a thousand users of prescription and over the counter (OTC) medicines from the UK and Ireland revealed:
- 93% of patients do not trust advice from pharmaceutical companies about their medication
- 84% feel the pharmaceutical industry influences prescription decisions
- 68% expressed a desire to be able to feedback their experiences to pharma companies
- 81% of patients do not feel listened to by pharmaceutical companies
DrugsDisclosed.com founder and former professor in social pharmacy at the University of Copenhagen, Claus Møldrup, said: “As today’s research shows, patients have been crying out for a forum where they can share experiences of medicines.
“Our survey findings, however, will be worrying reading for pharmaceutical companies — uncovering a significant trust deficit with patients. The problem stems from the fact that, until now, there has been no way for patients to speak out and no mechanism for the industry to listen and learn. If medication is to work effectively for everyone, this must change.”
Many patient organisations agree and MS Trust, Alzheimer’s Research Fund, No Panic, Alex, Cardiomyopathy UK, Epilepsy Scotland and We Are Diabetes are among those that have signed a DrugStars pledge calling for all pharmaceutical development, approval, pricing, prioritisation, marketing and discontinuation to be informed by real-world experiences of real patients.
Real insight from real people
While many other industries gain valuable feedback through platforms such as Trustpilot to improve their products and services, there has been no similar mechanism for medicines. Uniquely, DrugsDisclosed.com remedies this situation by providing pharmaceutical industry access to these insights through its associated site, DrugsDiscovered.com.
The platform brings around 55 million anonymised patient experiences to give unique insights into how medication is working for real people beyond the confines of clinical trials. With data recognised as secondary market insights, the pharmaceutical industry is allowed to listen and take action while remaining compliant with industry regulations.
Patient and DrugsDisclosed.com user Colin Failes, said: “I have taken part in a variety of drug trials. In those environments, pharmaceutical companies want to know everything that is happening to you. But that is where it ends. If we can start to use our daily experiences in a useful way that can make the drugs work better for everyone, we can really help people that are already suffering.”
Patient and DrugsDisclosed.com user Sarah Hyams said: “It can be difficult getting useful and reliable information on your medication, and leaflets that come with them can be scary. DrugsDisclosed.com allows me to read about real people’s experiences in the real world when taking the same medications as me — it’s reassuring because I feel less alone.”
