The Center for Medical Consumers, a non-profit 501(C)3 advocacy organization, was founded in 1976 with this philosophy: Whenever long-term drug therapy, elective surgery, or any other major treatment is prescribed, the question of whether the treatment has been proven safe and effective should come up. And the prescribing physician should be expected to cite the relevant studies. We want people not only to ask such questions but to explore the answers they receive from their physicians. Our first step was to open a free medical library to give people access to the same medical journals, textbooks, and drug reference books that their doctors use to make treatment decisions. The library continued in operation for 26 years, closing in 2001 as use of the Internet became widespread.

In 1976, we began publishing a monthly newsletter called HealthFacts, which critically evaluated the latest major studies published in the world’s top medical journals. We have always confined our reporting to the most common medical decisions people must make, such as: Should I have a prostate-specific antigen test for prostate cancer? Should I take these blood pressure drugs for the rest of my life? Should I get a flu shot? Over the years, it became increasingly obvious that U.S. medical care is big business. Overtreatment, that is, the unnecessary use of tests, drugs, and surgical procedures, is the hallmark of America’s medical care system, which provides financial incentives for doctors and hospitals to put profits ahead of what’s best for the patient. Our articles provide information that helps readers determine what is and what is not appropriate treatment. July 2009 was our last hard copy issue of HealthFacts. Since then, we post all new articles on our Web site.

We are committed to broadening public awareness about the safety and quality problems that pervade America’s medical care. And we are active in both nationwide and statewide efforts to reduce medical errors, report disclosure of physician conflicts of interest, improve the quality of medical care, and encourage public access to information about the comparative performance of doctors and hospitals.  Toward these goals, we

• participate in several national and state task forces charged with improving the safety and quality of health care (most recently, Institute of Medicine’s committee charged with advising the secretary of Health and Human Services regarding the $400 million earmarked for the Comparative Effectiveness Research in President Obama’s stimulus funding plan);

• work with legislators to strengthen the process by which physicians and other health professionals are licensed and disciplined;

• represent the public interest at hearings and meetings sponsored by the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health;

• critique and petition against misleading prescription drug advertising;

• and push for a greater consumer voice in policy-making that affects the quality of care and the public’s health.

Funding:
For most of our Center’s existence, our office space  was provided at no cost by the Judson Memorial Church, a New York City institution with a much respected history of civil rights, anti-war, and reproductive rights activism, as well as innovative art, theater, and dance. The Church’s generous support enabled our library to be open free to the public for 26 years. Additional funding comes from royalties generated by our articles, small grants, and private donations. We do not accept any financial support from the drug and medical device industries.

This Web site was completely redesigned in 2009 thanks to a generous gift from the Leon Levy Foundation.