CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Safest Drug, a nonprofit founded earlier this year to alleviate and prevent medication-related illness, disability and death in the United States, announced their policy agenda today.
Their plans to advocate for over 300 million people living in America are a first for the startup and was built with one group in mind: consumers. “There’s so much that we can do better as a country to ensure people aren’t exposed to medications that lead to permanent injury or death,” said Mika Pollack, MPH, founder and executive director of Safest Drug. “Confronting the gaps in consumer protections is the motivating cornerstone of our policy initiatives.”
Safest Drug’s advocacy efforts will focus on pushing for solutions that provide more benefit to consumers. Emphasis will be on mandating patient education, improving clinical research, and requiring complete and timely dissemination of safety information to consumers about their medications.
“We know that consumers are taking medications that may be creating medication experiences that are unsafe and it is one observation that much of this is due to a deeply systemic lack of processes, inadequate advocacy of consumer rights and proper action to ensure consumer protections are stronger,” Pollack said.
Safest Drug recognizes the opioid epidemic as one major layer of medication issues in the U.S. and hopes their advocacy will draw greater attention to other public health issues associated with all medication drug classes, not just opioids.
To learn more about Safest Drug’s policy agenda, visit www.safestdrug.org/home/programs-services/drug-change-advocacy.
For further information, contact: media@safestdrug.org
Twitter:@SafestDrug