The site allows users to share their own experiences with different prescription drugs, ranging from Ambien, to Zoloft, to yes, Viagara. And, the feedback is extremely detailed, providing average scores (on a 0-100% scale) users have submitted for each possible side effect, like weight loss/gain, drowsiness, or dry mouth. Each drug also has a comment area, where you can get details on user’s ratings and highly specific side effects.
For example, under Zoloft, one comment reads: “[Zoloft] actually changed my life. Effectively lifted my depression and has allowed me to finally function normally. The only major side effect i've noticed is that when I miss several doses in a row, I get dizzy and my balance is off. This goes away when I resume taking it, though, and is a small price to pay for what it has done.” Meanwhile, users report mild breathing difficulties and movement problems while on the drug, but overall, rate it “very” and “extremely” effective at treating depression.
Most of the feedback on RateADrug is anonymous, which, isn’t surprising since most people don’t want the world knowing what medications they’re on. It also means that ratings and reviews could potentially be manipulated by the drug companies, though RateADrug makes a point of saying that they do not accept drug companies as advertisers, unlike other popular medical information sites.
There’s lots of interesting data on RateADrug, and if you rate drugs yourself, you’ll get comparative data of how your experience compares to other users on the site. Much like PriceHub, which we reviewed yesterday, it’s not so much that RateADrug is providing information that isn’t already out there, but by building its database around submissions from real users, it’s providing another data point worth checking out when making a serious decision about your health.
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