Drug advertising works: More than a third of people surveyed by the Harvard School of Public Health and the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that they'd asked a doctor for a prescription for a drug they saw advertised on TV. And 82 percent of the time the doctor wrote a prescription.

Two other key findings, quoting from the report:

• Americans love the products that pharmaceutical companies produce, but they are less favorable towards the companies themselves, mainly because they feel they are getting ripped off by high prices driven by high drug company profits.
• Significant shares of people are having difficulty paying for prescription drugs, and
  many have not filled prescriptions, skipped doses, or cut pills in half as a result.

Taken together, the findings create a portrait of consumers who (1) often ask doctors for drugs they see advertised on TV; (2) blame the makers for charging too much; and (3) often can't afford to fill their prescriptions and take the drugs as indicated.

It's hard to see how any of this constitutes a strong (or even clear) mandate for change.

But it's significant that the remaining presidential contenders all propose policies designed to moderate drug prices--and that their proposals are remarkably similar.

Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain would permit cheaper drugs to be imported from other countries (with proper safety measures)

All three candidates would encourage development of generic drugs and reduce barriers to their reaching the market.

Clinton and Obama would permit Medicare to bargain for drug prices with pharma companies. With Medicare's huge buying power--and with so many drug purchases made by seniors--this is seen as a major step toward forcing lower prices. McCain has been less clear in his postion on this issue, but appears inclined to permit the Medicare bargaining.

Of course, campaign positions are one thing. Changes in laws and regulations are another.

In the meantime, though, there is something to keep in mind: Recent studies in the areas of diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol drugs have found that many of the older, off-patent medications work just as well--and sometimes better--than the name brands advertised on TV.

That's worth asking your doctor about too.