Awareness, Medication Adherence, Vaccinations
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World Immunization Week

Since 2012, the last week of April has been World Immunization Week. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1 in 5 children are missing routine immunizations. With nearly 20% of the world’s population at risk for diseases such as measles, whooping cough, and other preventable diseases, there are close to 1.5 million deaths annually that could be averted. As part of World Immunization Week, we at NeedyMeds want to spread awareness on the importance of vaccinations and the resources available for those in need.   In a previous blog post, we shared a graph that compared the morbidity of illnesses from […]

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Pediatrics, Safety
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No News is Good News—Or is It?

by Richard Sagall, MD This essay first appeared in Pediatrics for Parents (www.pedsforparents.com) Volume 30, issue 7-8   The doctor saw you or your child and ordered some tests. It may have been a blood panel, a check on urine, or perhaps an X-ray. As you leave the office the doctor says, “I’m sure all will be normal, but I want to be sure. I will call you if there are any problems. Remember, no news is good news!”   You leave optimistic everything will turn out fine. Then, a few days later you begin to wonder if all the tests came […]

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HealthWeb Navigator, NeedyMeds
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Introducing HealthWeb Navigator

This blog originally appeared on HealthWeb Navigator, a new site by NeedyMeds.  It has reviews of health-related websites to help you find the best, most medically reliable information. You can see the beta version of HealthWeb Navigator at www.healthwebnav.org.   What is HealthWeb Navigator and How Does It Work?   HealthWeb Navigator (HWN) directs you to health care websites that provide up-to-date and clear information. HWN resembles a guidebook that recommends the best places to visit on the Web.   Our staff constantly searches the Internet to find health care websites that appear useful to consumers. Our external review panel […]

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NeedyMeds, Patient Assistance, Prescription Drugs
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Patient Assistance Programs (PAPs)

NeedyMeds was started in 1997 when a family physician and a medical social worker realized there were dozens of pharmaceutical patient assistance programs available, providing medications to those in need at low- or no cost, but no centralized resource for the information.  We became that resource, using the relatively new Internet as the perfect medium for the constantly changing information.  Despite growing significantly since our inception, we still have an expanding database of Patient Assistance Programs (PAPs) to help those unable to cover the costs of prescriptions.   Patient assistance programs are typically run by pharmaceutical companies to help uninsured […]

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Affordable Care Act, Awareness, Health, Mental Health, Safety
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LGBT Health Awareness Week

Since 2003, the last week of March has been LGBT Health Awareness Week.  We have gone over some of the barriers to healthcare for some of the transgender community in a previous blog post, but it remains important to bring awareness to the unique healthcare needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and the health disparities that continue to beleaguer the lives of so many Americans.   A report by the Institute of Medicine found that fear of discrimination causes many LGBT people to avoid seeking out medical care.  This compromises an entire community as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and […]

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About Us

Welcome to the NeedyMeds Voice! We look forward to presenting you with timely, provocative pieces on healthcare reform, patient advocacy, medication and healthcare access, and other health-related news. Our goals are to educate, enlighten, and elucidate; together, we will try to make sense of the myriad and ongoing healthcare-related changes in the U.S. today.