U.S. News & World Report And Pharmacy Times Announce 2014 Top Recommended Health Products

NEW YORK, June 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. News & World Report, a nationally recognized publisher of health care consumer advice and information, and Pharmacy Times, the pharmacy industry's No. 1 publication, today released the 2014 Top Recommended Health Products. The list brings the collective recommendations of thousands of pharmacists directly to consumers–covering 1,100 over-the-counter brands and more than 150 product categories.

Consumers and health care professionals can now visit http://health.usnews.com/health-products and www.otcguide.net to access pharmacists' go-to brands. A significant portion of Pharmacy Times' 168,000 readers participate in this annual survey to rank their top-recommended health products each year.

Whether you spent too much time in the sun or need a recommendation for allergy medicine, the OTC Guide can pinpoint the top pharmacist recommended sunscreen and allergy remedies, and can also provide a ranking of many of the OTC brands easily recognized in your local pharmacy.

2014's Summer Survival Guide

This year's list includes three new categories that, along with returning rankings, give consumers the top recommended OTC products they need to stay healthy and survive the summer season. New seasonal additions and the top-ranked products are:

• Children's Motion Sickness – Dramamine for Kids
• Stretch Mark Treatments – Mederma Stretch Marks
• Sunscreens – Neutrogena

Returning seasonal categories are pre-vacation staples for families traveling during summer vacation. Top summer categories include:

• Adhesive Bandages – Band-Aid
• Antacids – Tums
• Burn Treatments – Neosporin
• Children's Multivitamins – Flintstones Gummies
• Herbal Supplements – Nature Made
• Immune Support – Airborne
• Liquid Bandages – New-Skin
• "Letter" Vitamin Brands – Nature Made
• Nasal Decongestants – Afrin
• Nausea Remedies – Emetrol
• Oral Decongestants – Sudafed
• Sun Burn Relief – Solarcaine
• Topical Poison Ivy/Oak Treatments – Cortizone-10

"U.S. News has a long history of providing health care consumers with quality rankings and information," said Kimberly Castro, Managing Editor of Money and Health at U.S. News. "The top-recommended health products highlight the best recommendations from pharmacists, and we hope this list provides an accessible way for families to treat everyday ailments and stay healthy."

In 2012, Pharmacy Times and U.S. News began collaborating to bring these pharmacist recommendations to consumers nationwide. Through U.S. News' website, usnews.com, consumers have unprecedented – and searchable – access to the wealth of information produced by the Pharmacy Times' annual OTC survey.

"As the health care landscape continues to evolve, the value pharmacists provide to consumers becomes more and more evident," said Ashley Hennessy Talamo, Publisher, Pharmacy Times. "Our partnership with U.S. News & World Report allows us to bring that value to consumers year-round with trusted pharmacist advice for just about any over-the-counter product."

Since 1997, Pharmacy Times has identified pharmacists' insights and preferences in an annual research program with Healthcare Research and Analytics, a consultative health care market research practice, and has published the results in the OTC Guide, which primarily reaches health care professionals.

This year the OTC Guide will also be available in a new mobile app, allowing consumers and pharmacists to bring these rankings right into the pharmacy aisle. The app, which will offer top OTC recommendations, patient guides in 14 therapeutic areas and additional resources, will be available for Android and iOS devices soon.

To learn more, please visit www.pharmacytimes.com and http://health.usnews.com/health-products.

About U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is a multi-platform publisher of news and analysis, which includes the digital-only U.S. News Weekly magazine, www.usnews.com and www.rankingsandreviews.com. Focusing on Health, Personal Finance, Education, Travel, Cars and Public Service/Opinion, U.S. News has earned a reputation as the leading provider of service news and information that improves the quality of life of its readers. U.S. News & World Report's signature franchise includes its News You Can Use® brand of journalism and its annual "Best" series of consumer Web guides and publications that include rankings of colleges, graduate schools, hospitals, mutual funds, health plans and more. Learn more about U.S. News Health on Facebook and on Twitter.

About Pharmacy Times
Pharmacy Times is the industry's leading publication, providing practical clinical information pharmacists can use in their everyday practices when counseling patients and interacting with physicians. Each issue contains articles and features covering medication errors, drug interactions, patient education, pharmacy technology, disease state management, patient counseling, product news, pharmacy law, and specialty pharmacy. The Pharmacy Times Office of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) as a provider of continuing pharmacy education. Learn more at www.PharmacyTimes.com, write to [email protected], call 609-716-7777, or visit us on Facebook and on Twitter. Pharmacy Times is published by Michael J. Hennessy Associates, Inc., a leading provider of health care publishing, research, information, and education.

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SOURCE U.S. News & World Report