Currently, over half (56%) of adults say they closely followed news stories about the potential health risks of pain medications such as Vioxx and Celebrex in the news, a somewhat smaller share than said they were closely following these stories in December (66%).

Despite this media attention on prescription drug safety, a large majority (80%) of the public feel at least “somewhat” confident about the safety of prescription drugs sold in the United States, with 28% saying they are “very” confident. About two in ten (18%) say they are “not too” or “not at all” confident in the safety of medications sold in the U.S.