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Survey: Consumers Believe Chronic Disease Patients to Be Medically Underserved

Posted on: Thursday, 9 February 2006, 09:00 CST

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report issued today by the National Consumers League (NCL) has found that the American public believes that patients suffering from chronic, debilitating conditions are lacking adequate treatments.

NCL commissioned Opinion Research Corporation to conduct a national telephone opinion survey to examine consumers' perceptions of the severity of the conditions, as well as the availability of treatments, for those who suffer from chronic ailments. The result of the survey is a report, "Public Attitudes towards the Severity of and Treatments for Chronic, Debilitating Conditions," which reveals that the public is aware that chronic diseases compromise quality of life but confused about the role of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in addressing the pressing needs of such patients.

"Unfortunately, respondents demonstrated a widespread perception that the patients who suffer the most are medically underserved," said Linda Golodner, NCL President. "We live in the most modern society in the world with the most sophisticated medical system, yet we are letting some of our most difficult cases slip through the cracks. We hope this survey will prompt all stakeholders to ask whether more can be done to help people suffering from conditions like Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, diabetes, and heart disease."

The report had four key findings: 1. The public recognizes that chronic, debilitating conditions such as heart disease, Alzheimer's, Multiple Sclerosis, diabetes, and Parkinson's severely threaten and compromise patients' quality of life. 2. The public perceives a significant shortcoming in the availability of treatments for chronic, debilitating conditions such as Alzheimer's, Multiple Sclerosis, and Parkinson's. 3. The public believes that not enough is being done to develop new treatments for chronic, debilitating conditions including Alzheimer's, Multiple Sclerosis, and Parkinson's. 4. The public most readily associates FDA with consumer protection.

"Without question, it is FDA's job to ensure that medications on the market are safe and effective, but we also must be sure that those safe and effective drugs can be accessed readily by those who need them so desperately," said Golodner. "Having access to drugs can really make the difference between a painful existence and an improved quality of life -- and there is nothing more important than that."

A summary of the report, "Public Attitudes towards the Severity of and Treatments for Chronic, Debilitating Conditions," is available at http://www.nclnet.org/.

About the survey

This report presents the findings of a telephone survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation, between Dec. 1, 2005 and Dec. 4, 2005, among a national probability sample of 1,013 adults comprising 507 men and 506 women 18 years of age and older, living in private households in the continental United States.

The margin of error for this survey is +/- 3 percentage points. About National Consumers League

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America's pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit http://www.nclnet.org/.

First Call Analyst: FCMN Contact:

National Consumers League

CONTACT: Carol McKay of National Consumers League, +1-202-835-3323 ext.114, or media@nclnet.org

Web site: http://www.nclnet.org/

Source: PRNewswire

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