A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (MSc) in Pharmaceutical Affairs. / Lack of information has been identified as a major factor as to why patients do not take their medicines as the prescriber intends. Provision of appropriate information in a suitable form is therefore crucial. The package insert (PI) is the document that ensures the safe and effective use of the medicine under most circumstances. It presents a scientific, objective account of the medicine’s use as established by pre-clinical, clinical and often post-marketing studies. The patient information leaflet (PIL), which contains information for the consumer should be less scientific. South African legislation states that information contained in PILs must be aligned to PIs but the text must be readily intelligible for the patient. The study included a detailed comparison of prescribing information contained in the PI compared to the PIL in selected Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARBs). Findings of this comparative analysis revealed that key safety information was omitted from the PILs. An evaluation of the readability of the PILs was also performed by the use of Fry’s readability formula as well as applying elements of critical discourse analysis to determine if the texts in the PILs are suitable for its purpose. The results of the Fry’s readability assessments of all the PILs indicated that they had exceeded the recommended grade 7 reading level, which is in line with the adult literacy rate that qualifies anyone older than 15 years with a grade 7 qualification as being literate. Findings from the critical discourse analysis of the PILs show frequent use of medical jargon, complex sentence construction as well as ambiguity and slippage in the meaning of the texts in the PILs. The texts are not patient-friendly. Overall, the findings from this study indicate an urgent need to address the poor construction of PILs, to ensure that patients receive appropriate written prescribing information. This will ultimately ensure the safe and effective use of the medicine. / KP2020

Prescription drug abuse is a continuing problem in the United States. Educating physicians on issues related to prescription drug abuse is a key factor in preventing and treating this problem. High variability has been found in substance abuse terminology in the literature, textbooks, and FDA-approved product labeling. This dissertation describes a survey study designed to address how the variability in substance abuse terminology, specifically package inserts, affects the prescribing decisions made by physicians.A random sample of 1008 physicians currently licensed and residing in the Commonwealth of Virginia received a letter of explanation, a self-administered questionnaire, and a follow-up reminder and thank you. To increase response rate, a second questionnaire was sent to non-responders. Prescribing decisions made by physicians were measured as three variables: comfort level with a prior physician's choice, likelihood of refilling the prescription, and likelihood of prescribing a drug or drug class as the first physician seeing a particular patient. Physicians were presented with four case scenarios which included package insert information and selected patient characteristics. Other factors affecting physicians' decisions in prescribing controlled substances include ideas about addiction, and characteristics of the physician, patient, disease state, and drug. The patient case scenarios and other items on the questionnaire addressed these covariates. Based on the number of deliverable questionnaires returned and included in analysis, the response rate was 32.3%. More physicians associated abuse, craving, drug-seeking behavior, psychological dependence, and withdrawal with addiction than with drug dependence, while more physicians felt that physical dependence and tolerance were necessary for drug dependence. The most frequently used sources for drug information were the Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR), package inserts, and pharmacists. Four linear regression models were created for physician prescribing decisions. Physician, patient and package insert characteristics were all significant (p

Labeling is a product differentiation mechanism which has increased in prevalence across many markets. This study investigated the potential for a labeling program applied in ornamental plant sales, given key ongoing issues affecting ornamental plant producers: irrigation water use and plant disease. Our research investigated how to better understand the market for plants certified as disease free and/or produced using water conservation techniques through segmenting the market by consumers' environmental preferences. Latent class analysis was conducted using choice modeling survey results and respondent scores on the New Environmental Paradigm scale. The results show that when accounting for environmental preferences, consumers can be grouped into two market segments. Relative to each other, these segments are considered: price sensitive and attribute sensitive. Our research also investigated market segments' preferences for multiple certifying authorities. The results strongly suggest that consumers of either segment do not have a preference for any particular certifying authority. / Master of Science

Diss. (sammanfattning)--Göteborg : University, 2002. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Product labeling is increasingly used as a tool to differentiate products with public and private benefits that cannot be readily evaluated by a consumer at the time of purchase. Our research investigates how a labeling program may be applied in the sale of ornamental plants to address two key issues; plant disease and irrigation water use. A choice modeling survey was utilized to estimate consumers' willingness to pay a premium for six ornamental plants with disease-free and/or water conservation certification labels. The results of the mixed logit models show consumers are willing to pay a premium for plants certified as disease-free and/or produced with water conservation practices. The results strongly suggest producers can recoup some of the costs of implementing water conservation measures such as water recycling and disease control measures amid regulatory and drought concerns. Our research also investigated consumers' preferences for multiple third party certifying authorities and whether preferences for the labels varied among consumers. The results showed ornamental plant consumers did not reveal a preference for a particular certifying authority. The results are mixed as to whether willingness to pay for the labels varies among respondents. We show willingness to pay does vary among respondents for three of the plant models indicating preference heterogeneity. / Master of Science

This thesis analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of various types of eco-labels, focusing primarily on differences between mandatory and voluntary eco-labeling programs. I argue that many of the problems with eco-labeling could be addressed by improving regulations. The current regulation of eco-labeling in the United States is discussed, especially the shortcomings of the FTC’s Green Guides. I recommend creating enforceable national legislation to regulate environmental claims that includes involvement of key stakeholders, a list of acceptable environmental claims, enforceable national definitions of environmental terms, an avenue for manufacturers and consumers to challenge environmental claims, consumer education, and periodic review and revision.