J&J's US drug access program passes 2M enquiries

USA-based health care giant Johnson & Johnson's access2wellness program, which provides uninsured and under-insured Americans with resources to  access prescription drugs, has received over two million enquiries since  its inception less than two years ago. Mike Samuelson, the scheme's  director, believes that demand for such initiatives is likely to rise in  the worsening economic climate.

Among the measures people facing financial hardship are taking to save  money on medicines are splitting pills, skipping screening tests,  delaying elective surgery or even turning to home remedies, Mr Samuelson  writes on the J&J corporate blog.

One area where drugmakers can do more, he argues, is in boosting public  awareness of the options available for help with medicine bills: a  recent study found that 63% of US citizens were unaware of the existence  of patient assistance programs. Many of these are on-line or can be  contacted by toll-free telephone numbers, with TogetherExAccess,  Partnership for Prescription Assistance and NeedyMeds among those  recommended by Mr Samuelson.