We are a coalition of 10 organizations, advocates, healthcare professionals, academics and concerned citizens who have launched a campaign to get one million people to go to their healthcare providers and ask, "What am I really putting into my body? What are the side effects? What are the alternatives?" The initiative is called Just Say "Know" to Prescription Drugs and is driven by increasing evidence that many people are uninformed about the potential side effects of their prescribed medication and are not aware of less-risky alternatives.

We began by declaring October "Just Say Know to Prescription Drugs Month" and held a conference in Washington D.C. on October 7th, 2006 to officially launch the campaign.

At the conference data collected from various respected sources was presented indicating that virtually all people are inadequately informed to assess the genuine risks of the drugs--or combination of drugs--they are taking. The solution proposed is "informed consent." -- taking steps to ensure that people truly understand the benefits, risks and alternatives before consenting to take a medication.

Leading up to the event and throughout the month of October, the coalition unveiled a national effort to get a million people to download a form that allows them to evaluate the drugs they are taking. The form collects specific information from their prescribing physicians, requiring the physician's signature attesting that they have fully informed their patient of the risks and benefits of the prescribed medication as well as non-drug alternatives.

"Informed consent in the prescription of drugs is one of the most critical but missing pieces in the healthcare system today," says Dr. Dominick Riccio, psychologist, Executive Director of the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology, Inc., and chairman of the "Just Say Know" Campaign. "Every day intelligent people are taking prescription drugs that they simply don't understand and the consequences of not knowing are increasingly dire," says Riccio.

Our mission is to get the millions of people who blindly take prescription drugs to be more proactive about their own health-- to start asking more questions and whether they take a prescription drugs or not to "Know" exactly what they are putting in their bodies and why.

We hope you'll join us...

Click the links in the left hand column to learn more about the people and organizations involved. We look forward to working together!

Dr. Greg Tefft