Six Million People Have Bought Prescription Drugs Online; Most Are Satisfied

With prescription drugs available online and being sold aggressively through email advertising, most of the six million(1) U.S. adults who have purchased them online say they are satisfied, according to the results of a recent new poll. But safety is an issue. Sixty-one percent (NET) of all adults online say that buying drugs online is much more dangerous (39%) or somewhat more dangerous (22%) than buying them from a pharmacy.

Of those who say they have purchased prescription drugs online:

• A large majority (70%) had previously obtained the same drug from a pharmacy with a prescription from one of their regular doctors, but 30% obtained a new drug online for which they had not previously had a prescription.
• Only 10% were less satisfied with their online purchase than they were when they used a traditional pharmacy. Most were either equally satisfied (56%) or more satisfied (34%).
• The drugs most often bought online were Lipitor (13%), followed by Viagra (7%) and six percent who recalled buying Celebrex (6%).

"These satisfaction numbers suggest that online drug purchasing will grow, but widespread fears about safety-whether the drugs are what they say they are and uncertainty about where they are coming from-will inhibit that growth," says Humphrey Taylor, chairman of The Harris Poll® at Harris Interactive.

TABLE 1
EVER BOUGHT PRESCRIPTION DRUGS ONLINE
"Have you ever bought prescription drugs online from a company that sent you an email advertising and selling the drugs (and, if so, how many times)?"

Base: All Adults Who Are Online	Total %
Have bought prescription drugs online (NET)	4
Have bought prescription drugs online once only	1
Have bought prescription drugs online twice	1
Have bought prescription drugs online three times	*
Have bought prescription drugs online four times or more	2
No, never bought prescription drugs online from a company that sent me an email	95
Refused	1

* Less than 0.5%

NOTE: Projection based on current Census Bureau figures estimating there are 218 million U.S. adults. The Harris Poll published in Jan. 2004 determined 69% (or 150 million) of U.S. adults are online, four percent of which equals six million U.S. adults who have purchased drugs online. While four percent (4%) of all adults online represent six million adults who have bought drugs online at least once, there are three million (2%) of adults who have done so four times or more often.

TABLE 2
ARE PEOPLE BUYING DRUGS PRESCRIBED PREVIOUSLY OR NEW DRUGS
"Thinking of the last prescription drug you bought online, was this . . .?"

Base: Bought drugs online	Total %
A drug which you had bought recently before with a prescription from one of your regular doctors whom you have visited in person, or a drug which you had received recently before as a sample from one of your regular doctors whom you have visited in person	70
A drug for which you had not recently before had a prescription or sample from a regular doctor you had visited in person	30

TABLE 3
SATISFACTION WITH DRUGS BOUGHT ONLINE
"How do you feel about the prescription drug or drugs you bought online? Are you . . .?"

Base: Bought drugs online	Total %
More satisfied than if you had bought it (or them) from a pharmacy	34
Less satisfied than if you had bought it (or them) from a pharmacy	10
Neither more nor less satisfied	56

TABLE 4
PERCEIVED SAFETY OF DRUGS BOUGHT ONLINE
"How safe do you think it is to order prescription drugs on the Internet, from companies that send out emails advertising and selling the drugs?"

Base: All Adults Who Are Online	Total %
More dangerous (NET)	61
Much more dangerous than buying them in a pharmacy	39
Somewhat more dangerous than buying them in a pharmacy	22
Almost as safe as buying them in a pharmacy	8
Just as safe as buying them in a pharmacy	8
Safer than buying them in a pharmacy	1
Not sure	23

TABLE 5
DRUGS BOUGHT MOST OFTEN ONLINE
"Can you remember the brand name(s) of the prescription drug or drugs you have ever bought online from a company advertising by email?"

Base: Bought drugs online	Total %
Lipitor (to lower cholesterol)	13
Viagra (for erectile dysfunction)	7
Celebrex (pain medication)	6
Ambien (sleeping pill)	3
Soma (muscle relaxant)	3
Vioxx (pain medication)	3
Prozac (anti-depressant)	3
Phentermine (weight loss)	3
Wellbutrin (anti-depressant)	2
Nexium (gastric medication)	2
Codeine (pain medication)	2
Human growth hormone	2
Advair (anti-asthma)	2
Allegra (allergy)	2
Insulin (diabetes)	2
Zetia (to lower cholesterol)	2
Zoloft (anti-depressant)	2

NOTE: Many other drugs were mentioned by 1%.

Downloadable PDFs of Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive Health- Care Polls are posted at http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/newsletters_wsj.asp.