You’ve probably heard that it pays to shop around.

Well according to a recent survey by Consumer Reports, that might be especially true when it comes to generic drug prices.

Consumer Reports found that five of the best-selling generic alternatives to prescription drugs in the United States vary in price by a sizeable 447 percent.

February 28 is observed internationally as Rare Disease Day. Nearly 30 million people in the United States suffer from conditions classified as “rare diseases”.

While some bear names you’ve likely never heard of, other examples may surprise you …

Medications that treat rare medical conditions have historically proven difficult to both develop and market.  As a result, they haven’t historically been a priority for large drug manufacturers.

“Orphan drugs”, medication defined in the 1983 Orphan Drug Act as treating diseases affecting fewer than 200,000 people, are expensive to develop, expensive to buy and often unappealing to commercial developers because of low returns on investment.

Nonetheless, developing and commercializing medications for the few people who do need them is certainly worthwhile. There are approximately 7,000 rare, often life-threatening disorders.

As Canada’s federal health department, Health Canada, readies itself to boost orphan drug research, development and access, University of Minnesota researchers are looking for ways to do the same in the United States …

When it comes to epilepsy, relief from seizures often arrives in the form of the FDA-approved drug topiramate. This drug acts in the brain to prevent seizure activity and in doing so, alters how the brain functions. In some patients, these alterations can produce undesirable effects on cognition.

While patients with epilepsy might be willing to accept a few adverse side effects in return for seizure relief, the effects on cognition are less tolerable for patients who take topiramate for other purposes …

Robert Vince, Ph.D., is the director of the Center for Drug Design in the University of Minnesota’s Department of Medicinal Chemistry.

Robert Vince started off at the University of Minnesota as an undergraduate professor in the 1960s. He has since established the University of Minnesota’s Center for Drug Design (CDD).

Albeit impressive and commendable, his title of director is just the beginning of the gamechanging work he has been a part of while at the University of Minnesota. Vince is a little more modest about the term.

“I don’t know if I’d call it gamechanging,” says Robert Vince. “It’s just what I do.”

As researchers develop high tech solutions like smartphone apps, computerized tools and even ingestible devices to help individuals taking multiple medications manage their pills, it becomes increasingly important to not forget the simple stuff.

After all, proper medication safety practices have the potential to help prevent the more than 700,000 visits to hospital emergency departments each year resulting from undesirable drug effects.

“For anyone personally taking or administering numerous medications to others, it’s important to understand what’s being taken, the medication’s purpose and what the appropriate dosage is,” said Sarah Westberg, Pharm.D., associate professor in the University of Minnesota’s College of Pharmacy.

Dr. Westberg advises…