Ask a Patient - About Us

Welcome to Ask a Patient, the site that empowers patients by allowing them to share and compare medication experiences.

Ask a Patient was awarded the 2012 Webby Award for best web site in the Pharmaceutical Category.

Background and Mission

AskaPatient® is operated by Consumer Health Resource Group, LLC, and has provided comparative drug and healthcare information since 2001. The site provides patients with a unique forum in which to share and compare medication experiences. We are not affiliated with any other company or organization. Librarians, healthcare writers, health experts, and most importantly, patients who have taken the time to contribute their experiences to the AskaPatient database are responsible for creating this site. AskaPatient's mission is to help health care consumers become empowered patients by providing the best online resource for researching patient opinion about prescription drugs. We strive to gain the loyalty and trust of patients by providing quality information and by protecting user privacy.

What We Offer

The AskaPatient database contains more than 4,000 chemically prepared prescription and biological drugs approved by FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. We are also beginning to include some popular vaccines and prescription alternative medicines. If you know of a drug that you think should be included, please contact us. At AskaPatient, you can:

  • - Read patient reviews of prescription or over-the-counter drugs, and some vaccines, based on fine-tuned search criteria (age, gender, symptom, etc.)
  • - Search for information, contribute information, and contact patients who are listed in the database without being required to register.
  • - Share your contact information so that other patients may ask you questions about the reviews you have posted. (If you choose to allow patients to get in touch with you, your email address is kept confidential, unless you choose to respond.)
  • - Contribute to and review opinion polls about timely, sometimes controversial, and often under-reported health care issues.
  • - Keep abreast of drug news from a wide variety of health care sources.
  • - Access special reports on drugs and health care topics of interest.
  • - Research your treatment options.

The information provided by AskaPatient is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical care. To make a fully informed decision about which medications are right for you, always read the product information that comes with your medication and discuss any concerns you may have with your doctor.

Site Use

This site is intended to be used by health care consumers. AskaPatient welcomes academic institutions, non-profits, and health care organizations to inquire about using our information for research. We require that you contact us for permission to use the data in your studies. We may also be able to assist you with your research by providing analysis of survey data. Please see the Terms of Use page for guidelines on site use. AskaPatient® is a registered service mark. All rights reserved.

Funding

Funding is obtained by advertising links from third party online advertising brokers. Banner advertisements are automatically generated based on page content. All advertising is clearly identified as such, and any direct advertising agreements or partnerships are only formed with organizations offering products or services that do not present a conflict of interest with the independent nature of AskaPatient. For more information, please contact us.

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Feedback

We welcome feedback from site visitors. Please use the Contact Us page.


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why was AskaPatient created?

AskaPatient was created in 2000 and launched in 2001 to help individuals research drugs and health care topics. With the empowered patient in mind, it provides tools for people who want to go a step beyond reading a drug’s informational pamphlet. At AskaPatient, we believe a patient should be in control of his or her own well-being.

Is AskaPatient sponsored by a pharmaceutical company?

No, AskaPatient is an independent web site. We are not affiliated with any pharmaceutical company, nor do we accept funding from any organization offering products or services that present a conflict of interest.

What drugs are included in the AskaPatient database?

The AskaPatient database contains more than 4,000 FDA approved prescription drugs from the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, as well as an increasing number of biological drugs such as vaccines, blood and blood components, allergenics, somatic cells, and gene therapy products.  For more information on what the database contains, see the advanced search help page.

Aren't the AskaPatient ratings skewed by people who have only had bad experiences with a drug?

If you were to find a majority of low ratings (or, conversely, high ratings) on the AskaPatient site, that would be a valid concern. However, the average rating for all drugs in the AskaPatient database is about 3, which equals "average" or "somewhat satisfied." As with so many other consumer product review sites, at AskaPatient you will find plenty of high, low, and middle-of-the-road ratings.

Couldn't a pharmaceutical company representative add a high rating?

Like all other consumer review web sites, there is always a chance that someone adding ratings to this site might misrepresent themselves. However, this would be a violation of AskaPatient's terms of use, and the site administrator reserves the right to remove ratings that appear to be spam, duplicates, or false reports.

Are AskaPatient's health care poll opinion results reliable?

The polls on this site are not meant to be scientific; rather, they simply provide another window into prevailing opinion about various health care topics. Interestingly, however, similar polls that have been done by large and respected polling organizations have had similar results to AskaPatient polls. For instance, in the 2008 election year poll regarding which presidential candidate would do the best job of making affordable and better health care available, the percentage of responses for each answer were almost identical to the results obtained by various polls (Gallup, Washington Post, etc.) listed on Pollster.com.

What is your privacy policy?

Please visit the Privacy section.

I'm doing research on a specific drug or health-related topic. Can I use the data on this site?

Only with permission. Please see the Terms of Use page.

Where can I read more about AskaPatient?

Click here for AskaPatient data in medical literature and in other academic journals and in the news.

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Business Contact Information:
Email AskaPatient
Consumer Health Resource Group LLC
PO Box 6783 | Arlington, VA 22206 Phone: 703.677.7362