从品牌左甲状腺素转换为通用左甲状腺素相关的医疗保健成本。
Healthcare costs associated with switching from brand to generic levothyroxine.
作者信息
Katz Michael, Scherger Joseph, Conard Scott, Montejano Leslie, Chang Stella
机构信息
Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science, College of Pharmacy, Tucson, AZ.
Clinical Professor of Family Medicine, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California-San Diego, CA.
出版信息
Am Health Drug Benefits. 2010 Mar;3(2):127-34.
BACKGROUND
Controversy exists over the true therapeutic equivalence of branded and generic levothyroxine-the drug of choice for treating hypothyroidism-so professional societies recommend against switching between different formulations of the drug and suggest that patients who do switch be monitored. Payers typically encourage switching to generic drugs because of lower drug acquisition costs.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the impact of switching levothyroxine formulations on actual healthcare costs.
METHODS
Patients with hypothyroidism and at least 6 months of branded levothyroxine therapy were identified from a large healthcare claims database. Patients who subsequently switched to another levothyroxine formulation and could be followed for 6 months postswitch were matched to demographically similar patients who were continuous users of branded levothyroxine. Pre- and postswitch healthcare costs for each group were compared.
RESULTS
The savings in prescription drug costs after switching from branded to generic levothyroxine are offset by increases in costs for other healthcare services, such that switching is actually associated with an increase, not a decrease, in total healthcare costs.
CONCLUSION
In the absence of cost-savings, there is no clear rationale for switching patients from brand to generic levothyroxine.
背景
左甲状腺素是治疗甲状腺功能减退症的首选药物，其品牌药和仿制药在真正的治疗等效性方面存在争议，因此专业协会建议不要在该药物的不同剂型之间换药，并建议对换药的患者进行监测。支付方通常鼓励换药至仿制药，因为药物采购成本较低。
目的
评估左甲状腺素剂型转换对实际医疗费用的影响。
方法
从一个大型医疗理赔数据库中识别出接受品牌左甲状腺素治疗至少6个月的甲状腺功能减退症患者。将随后换用另一种左甲状腺素剂型且在换药后可随访6个月的患者，与在人口统计学上相似的品牌左甲状腺素持续使用者进行匹配。比较每组换药前后的医疗费用。
结果
从品牌左甲状腺素换用仿制药后节省的处方药费用被其他医疗服务费用的增加所抵消，因此换药实际上与总医疗费用的增加而非减少相关。
结论
在没有成本节约的情况下，将患者从品牌左甲状腺素换用仿制药没有明确的理由。
Zotero 插件