Best medicines for less: we compare drugs for what ails America.(Product/service evaluation)

GlaxoSmithKline spent $52 million between 2005 and 2006 advertising the diabetes drug Avandia and increased sales by 20 percent. But older diabetes drugs that cost much less are equally effective and probably safer.

Alzheimer's drugs that cost $150 to $200 a month are heavily promoted to doctors and are routinely prescribed, yet studies show they may help only 10 to 20 percent of patients.

The four prescription drugs that treat heartburn or GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) produce about the same benefit. But there's a nonprescription drug that works just as well and can save users hundreds of dollars a year.

Those are among the highlights from Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs, a public education project that makes comparative drug information available free of charge at www.ConsumerReports.org /health.We have now evaluated drugs for 35 conditions, including attention deficit disorder, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, insomnia, menopause, migraine, and overactive bladder.

MULTIPLYING MEDICATIONS

With 45 percent of U.S. adults regularly taking at least one prescription drug and 18 percent taking three or more, consumers need to know how to get the best value for their health-care dollar.

Consider John and Susannah Dodson, ages 70 and 68, from Shorewood, Minn., who both have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes. Between them, the Dodsons take 12 prescription drugs every day, and more when allergies, arthritis, back pain, or heartburn flares up. They have struggled for years to keep their drug costs under control. While the new Medicare Part D program helps pay for a good portion of their drug bill, they still face around $260 a month in out-of-pocket drug expenses and were buying some prescriptions by mail from Canada.