Treato: Patients still prefer brand-name statins

NEW YORK — Consumer health care website Treato on Wednesday released its first ranking of statins based on customer satisfaction. The ranking shows that, despite widespread availability of generics for popular brand-name statins, patient satisfaction is higher with brand-name drugs.

 

The ranking was created by creating overall scores based on the ratio of positive to negative medication reviews online by using TreatoVoice, which identifies and ranks patient experience base on their online postings. The top branded statin, with an overall satisfaction score of 2.4 out of 5, was Merck’s Vytorin, which before insurance co-pays and discounts costs $233.53 for a 30-day suppy, according to OneRx. The top generic statin was lovastatin, a generic of Merck’s Mevacor, which costs $4.69 for a 30-day supply before co-pays and discounts, according to OneRx. 

 

The idea behind the rankings is to allow patients to make informed choices about their health care. 

 

“By ranking consumers' experiences of their satisfaction with statins, we hope to empower individuals with information based on the experiences of other patients,” Treato CEO Ido Hadari said. “We want patients to be more confident in their discussions with their doctor when picking a statin to meet their needs.”