Pay less for prescription drugs.(Have You Heard?)

Nexium, Viagra, Zoloft: Since the bombardment of product-specific advertising of prescription drugs began on TV and radio in 1997, earnest people with handsome faces have convinced us that we need particular acid-reflux/erectile-dysfunction/social-anxiety-disorder drugs. Pharmaceutical companies spent more than $3 billion in 2003 persuading us to ask doctors for the latest wonder drug for real or perceived medical problems.

Trouble is, the high cost of drugs and the persuasive power of ads leaves consumers, doctors, and pharmacists without objective assessments of different drugs' effectiveness, so they can choose the best for the least money.

In this chaos of too much information of too little value, Consumers Union, the publisher of CONSUMER REPORTS, is proud to announce a new project that will bring reliable, usable, and free information to consumers: Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs. This public-education campaign is designed to present concise, readable summaries of drugs that are proved effective and are affordable. CR Best Buy Drugs distills hundreds of pages of medical reports assessing how well a particular drug works and how safe it is. The primary source for the medical evidence is the Drug Effectiveness Review Project, which started at the Oregon Health & Science University in 2003; DERP is now operating in 12 states.

Each of our reports is prepared in consultation with medical experts and reviewed by consultants who have expertise in that drug category and who must adhere to strict ...