You Aren't Having Any Problems Taking Your Medications, Are You?

Abstract

A major pharmaceutical company has been running a radio advertising campaign in the Detroit, Mich., market encouraging people to improve their medication taking. The ad's tag line is, “It only takes a minute to take your meds.” A well-intentioned message, certainly, but one that understates the complexity of a patient's decision whether to take or not take a prescribed medication. Persistence in taking medications, especially on a long-term basis, is difficult, and medication-taking behaviors of patients are not routinely assessed by their caregivers. The data documenting medication nonadherence are stunning. Only 50–60% of patients take medications for their chronic diseases as prescribed,1 two-thirds of Americans fail to take any or all of their prescription medicines, 22% of Americans take less of the medication than is stated on their prescription label, and 12% don't get their prescriptions filled at all.2 A recent study3 observed that only 43, 29, and 52% of patients with diabetes have achieved recommended targets for hemoglobin A …