The use of over-the-counter medications is rising around the world, but the economic downturn is impacting usage. Manufacturers need to encourage responsible proactive usage and reinforce their brand equity to negate the threat of store brands and generics.

Zyrtec isn’t the first prescription drug to make the switch to over-the-counter (OTC) availability.  But when McNeil launched the OTC version of its allergy medication in January 2008, Zyrtec’s prescription-to-OTC transition was hardly “typical,” according to a new analysis by NielsenHealth and Wolters Kluwer Health.
In the first six months following its launch (January to June 2008), Zyrtec OTC shook up prescription and OTC allergy medication markets in the U.S.   Prescription allergy drug sales declined sharply, while over-the-counter allergy drug sales increased significantly.
By June 2008, prescription sales of Zyrtec had declined to nearly …

Still more data confirming the battered state of the U.S. economy: U.S. consumers are more price conscious than shoppers in other countries — even when their health is on the line.
According to a global survey conducted by Nielsen and the Association of the European Self-Medication Industry (AESGP), U.S. consumers place more importance on price and value when choosing over-the-counter (OTC) medications than consumers in other countries throughout Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, and the Middle East. 
Thirty percent of U.S. consumers consider price to be important when choosing OTC products, while …

Melissa Davies
Several of our staff have touched on the economy in recent days. As consumers’ healthcare costs continue to climb, it seems natural that healthcare cannot be immune to the effects of the downturn that has our world reeling. The New York Times on Tuesday published an article about a trend in patients stopping certain medications because they can’t afford them. Other news sources have reported on various patient cost-saving measures, from splitting pills in half to taking a medication every other day instead of every day.
I wondered if we …