Ferguson William, Clapshaw Lesley
Kumeu Medical Centre, PO Box 404, Kumeu, Auckland 0841, New Zealand.
Kumeu Medical Centre, Auckland, Kumeu, New Zealand.
Ther Adv Psychopharmacol. 2020 May 26;10:2045125320927309. doi: 10.1177/2045125320927309. eCollection 2020.
The antidepressant venlafaxine has been available in New Zealand for two decades and is funded by the New Zealand Drug Purchasing Agency PHARMAC. This audit aimed to determine whether change to a different funded generic formulation of venlafaxine affected patient responses to venlafaxine.
A retrospective review of patient records for all patients at Kumeu Medical Centre, Auckland, New Zealand who received a prescription for venlafaxine since January 2017 was performed. Outcomes for patients who had experienced a stable positive clinical response to either of the two previously funded venlafaxine formulations and who were switched to the newly funded formulation were summarised.
Of 49 patients who had been prescribed venlafaxine, 34 patients were excluded; 15 patients had experienced a stable positive clinical response to either of the two previously funded venlafaxine formulations and switched to the newly funded formulation. Of these, 12 (80%) had poor outcomes following the change in venlafaxine formulation. Nine patients switched back to the original brand venlafaxine and showed improvement in clinical symptoms.
These cases, reported from a single general practice, should be sufficient to call attention to the possibility of loss of effectiveness for patients treated with a funded generic brand of venlafaxine, and the need for further research.
抗抑郁药文拉法辛在新西兰已上市二十年，由新西兰药品采购机构PHARMAC提供资金支持。本次审计旨在确定更换为另一种由政府资助的文拉法辛通用制剂是否会影响患者对文拉法辛的反应。
对新西兰奥克兰库梅乌医疗中心自2017年1月以来接受文拉法辛处方的所有患者的病历进行回顾性审查。总结了对两种先前由政府资助的文拉法辛制剂中的任何一种有稳定积极临床反应且改用新资助制剂的患者的结果。
在49例开具文拉法辛处方的患者中，34例被排除；15例对两种先前由政府资助的文拉法辛制剂中的任何一种有稳定积极临床反应并改用新资助制剂。其中，12例（80%）在文拉法辛制剂更换后效果不佳。9例患者换回原来的品牌文拉法辛，临床症状有所改善。
来自单一全科诊所报告的这些病例，应足以引起人们对使用政府资助的通用品牌文拉法辛治疗的患者有效性丧失可能性的关注，以及进一步研究的必要性。
