Americans stretching Rxs to save money

More than 13.5 million Americans, equivalent to over 20% of US adults who use long-term prescribed medication (including those taking  injectables), in the last three months have taken steps to stretch out  their medicine, either by reducing the dosage or taking it less often  than prescribed, according to a survey by market research firm  ICR/International Communications Research.

Even about one in 10 patients who need critical therapy that must be  injected by a health professional have found ways to stretch out these  often very expensive, doctor-recommended prescriptions. Overall, for  injectables, the percentage of patients who indicated doing this in the  last three months ranges from 9% for those administered by a health care  professional, to 22% for self-injected drugs like insulin for diabetics.  Issues of overall cost and the recent financial climate, including  factors relating to insurance coverage and medication co-pay, were cited  most often as the reasons why people have begun trying to make their  prescriptions last longer.