One-fourth of U.S. adults would purchase generic medications

About one-fourth of U.S. adults would purchase generic medications, rather than brand-name treatments, in all cases, according to a Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive poll released on last week, the Wall Street Journal reports.

For the poll, Harris Interactive questioned a nationally representative sample of 2,493 U.S. adults between Oct. 4 and Oct. 6. About 28% of respondents said that they would purchase generic medications "much more often" than brand-name treatments, and 19% said that they would purchase brand-name medications much more often than generic treatments or in all cases, the poll finds.

According to the poll, 39% of respondents said that they most often purchase medications from pharmacy chains such as Walgreen or Eckerd, and 13% said that they most often purchase medications from discount stores such as Wal-Mart, Target or Sam's Club. About 11% of respondents said that they most often purchase medications online or by mail, the poll finds.

Almost half of respondents said that they likely, very likely or "absolutely" would begin to purchase medications at discount stores after Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart recently announced discounts on generic treatments, according to the survey (Bright, Wall Street Journal).