Abbott 2004 Global Citizenship Report - Abbott Laboratories

Citizenship at AbbottAcross the industry in 2004, U.S.pharmaceutical companies’ patientassistance programs provided morethan 22 million free prescriptionsworth an estimated total of $4 billion,for patients in need.Medicare Discount CardWith the help of the industry and its partners, more than80 percent of eligible senior citizens signed up for this newcard – the fastest enrollment ever for this type ofgovernment program. Member companies mobilized their80,000 sales representatives, including 5,000 from Abbott,to deliver more than 30 million brochures to physiciansto help them enroll patients for the new Medicare benefits.We worked with many stakeholders, including the NationalAlliance for Hispanic Health, the National MedicalAssociation, state governors and labor groups to reachand enroll senior citizens.Clinical StudiesPhRMA issued its Principles on the Conduct of Clinical Trialsand Communication of Clinical Trial Results to express acommitment to provide useful and meaningful results ofclinical studies, whether those results are positive or negative.In 2004, a Web-based database, the Clinical Study ResultsDatabase (www.clinicalstudyresults.org), was created to helphealth care providers and patients choose the drugs thatmake the most sense for them. The site contains more than240 studies and is populated with all controlled clinical trialresults completed since October 2002 for all U.S.-marketedproducts. PhRMA member companies will also post newinformation about trials in progress on the U.S. government’sWeb site, www.clinicaltrials.gov.State InitiativesMember companies also worked with the NationalPharmaceutical Council to support creative coverage pilotprojects, such as Oregon’s “Health at Work” initiative, whichcombines existing elements of the health care system tohelp more people get insurance.Patient Assistance Web SitePhRMA’s Web site, www.helpingpatients.org, was enhancedto better serve patients with lower incomes who are notassisted by government programs. The new site streamlinesthe process doctors use to enroll their patients in companies’assistance programs.Peg Stevens, supervisor of the laboratory and technical staff at Abbott’s Phase I ClinicalPharmacology Research Unit at Victory Memorial Hospital in Waukegan, Illinois, UnitedStates, prepares to draw blood from study volunteer Steve Grujich.10