Here we go again. Another public opinion pool where Big Pharma shows up
among the least likable industries or lands near the bottom when it comes to
corporate industry reputation. This time it's the monthly Kaiser Family
Foundation health tracking poll for August. While the core of the study focused
on consumers' opinions about drug prices, several questions also tallied public
sentiment regarding pharma. And it ain't good.
Opinion Of Pharmaceutical
Companies
Majorities of the public feel favorably towards a number of companies and
groups in American society, such as doctors (78 percent), food manufacturers
(58 percent), banks (58 percent), and airlines (55 percent), but pharmaceutical
companies rank lower. About 4 in 10 (42 percent) of the public views
pharmaceutical companies favorably, similar to the shares who have positive
views of oil companies (40 percent) and health insurance companies (44
percent). The share with favorable views of pharmaceutical companies is similar
across Democrats (38 percent), Republicans (41 percent) and independents (42
percent).
While Americans hold some other industries and groups in higher regard
than pharmaceutical companies, most of the public (57 percent) says drug
companies are making about the same contribution to society as most other
companies.
About a fifth (22 percent) say they are making more of a
contribution to society than most other companies and just under a fifth (17
percent) say they are making less of a contribution. Those who are currently
taking prescription drugs are somewhat more likely than those not taking
prescription drugs to say drug companies are making more of a contribution to
society than other companies (25 percent vs. 18 percent.
Many Say Drug Companies Are Focused Too Much On Profits
While
many feel pharmaceuticals have improved Americans’ lives, over 7 in 10
Americans (73 percent) say drug companies make too much profit, while about 2
in 10 (21 percent) say they make about the right amount of profit and very few
say they do not make enough profit (1 percent). Those who feel the cost of
prescription drugs is unreasonable are much more likely to say companies make
too much profit than those who say costs are reasonable (83 percent vs. 46
percent).
In
addition, about three quarters of the public (74 percent) say that
pharmaceutical companies are too concerned about making profits and not
concerned enough about helping people, while about a quarter (23 percent) say
the balance between making profits and helping people at drug companies is
about right. Again, those who believe drug costs are unreasonable are more
likely to say drug companies are too concerned with making profits than those
who feel drug costs are more reasonable (82 percent vs. 52 percent).
View the
full report here...http://bit.ly/1UTGMaK