American health & drug benefits
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Am Health Drug Benefits · Aug 2014
Impact of linaclotide treatment on work productivity and activity impairment in adults with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation: results from 2 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trials.
Irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C), a chronic functional gastrointestinal disorder, has been shown to negatively affect work productivity and impair daily activity, resulting in a substantial burden for patients and employers. Linaclotide is a first-in-class guanylate cyclase-C agonist approved for the treatment of adults with IBS-C and chronic idiopathic constipation in the United States. ⋯ The results of this analysis indicate that appropriate treatment of IBS-C with medications such as linaclotide can reduce work-related impairment associated with IBS-C. In addition, IBS-C therapies that effectively manage this chronic condition and improve employees' quality of life and work productivity may represent significant cost-savings for employers in the form of avoided work productivity losses.
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Counterfeit drugs comprise an increasing percentage of the US drug market and even a larger percentage in less developed countries. Counterfeit drugs involve both lifesaving and lifestyle drugs. ⋯ Counterfeit drugs pose a public health hazard, waste consumer income, and reduce the incentive to engage in research and development and innovation. Stronger state licensure supervision of drug suppliers would be helpful. Technological approaches, such as the Radio Frequency Identification devices, should also be considered. Finally, counterfeit drugs may raise concerns among consumers about safety and reduce patient medication adherence.
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Am Health Drug Benefits · May 2014
ReviewThe Impact of 5-HT3RA Use on Cost and Utilization in Patients with Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting: Systematic Review of the Literature.
Individual studies have assessed the impact of standard prophylactic therapy with 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor antagonists (5-HT3RAs) for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) on cost and utilization, but no synthesis of the findings exists. ⋯ This analysis shows that prophylaxis with palonosetron for the treatment of CINV is associated with higher acquisition treatment costs, but also with lower use of rescue medications and outpatient and inpatient services compared with ondansetron or other 5-HT3RAs in the United States. Therefore, the use of palonosetron as a standard treatment may lead to reduced service utilization for CINV.
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Am Health Drug Benefits · Jan 2014
Outcomes Associated with 5-HT3-RA Therapy Selection in Patients with Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting: A Retrospective Claims Analysis.
Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is a common side effect of chemotherapy, and may present during the administration of chemotherapy (ie, acute CINV) or within 25 to 120 hours of chemotherapy (ie, delayed CINV). Preventing CINV with the initiation of chemotherapy is important, because the risk for CINV in future chemotherapy cycles increases if CINV occurs in the first or previous treatment cycle. Inadequately controlled CINV is associated with increased resource utilization and costs, particularly for patients receiving highly or moderately emetogenic chemotherapy. ⋯ Current guidelines support the use of 5-HT3-RA agents for the prevention of CINV. As shown in this analysis, the selection of a specific 5-HT3-RA agent has a clinical and subsequent economic impact on patients with cancer experiencing delayed CINV. Specifically, patients receiving therapy with palonosetron had a lower incidence of delayed CINV and incurred lower overall costs.
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Am Health Drug Benefits · Nov 2013
Modeling the Frequency and Costs Associated with Postsurgical Gastrointestinal Adverse Events for Tapentadol IR versus Oxycodone IR.
Few studies have estimated the economic effect of using an opioid that is associated with lower rates of gastrointestinal (GI) adverse events (AEs) than another opioid for postsurgical pain. ⋯ Using tapentadol IR in place of a traditional μ-opioid shows the potential for reduced GI events and subsequent cost-savings in the postsurgical hospital setting. In the absence of sufficient real-world data, this literature-based cost calculator may assist hospital Pharmacy & Therapeutics committees in their evaluation of the costs of opioid-related GI events.