Healthy Skepticism Library item: 144

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Getting a Toehold for Research Comparing Medical Treatments
Washington Health Policy Week in Review 2004 Dec 20

Full text:

Because of the huge financial stakes for the products involved, research that compares the effectiveness of various forms of medical treatments has difficulty finding funding, even though many analysts see it as essential to avoiding what they say are huge amounts of unnecessary spending on health care. But a couple of smaller-scale efforts appear to be getting off the ground.

The federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) announced on Dec. 15 a $15 million project comparing the effectiveness of treatments, including pharmaceuticals, for 10 top conditions affecting Medicare beneficiaries.

“The additional medical evidence provided by this initiative will help doctors and patients make more informed decisions,” said Mark B. McClellan, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The conditions are ischemic heart disease, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, stroke (including control of hypertension), arthritis and non-traumatic joint disorders, diabetes, dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease), pneumonia, peptic ulcer and dyspepsia, and depression and other mood disorders.

AHRQ is expected to complete the studies in mid-2006. The Medicare overhaul law (PL 108-173) requires completion of the research within 18 months of the naming of the conditions to be studied.

Separately, the publisher of Consumer Reports announced on Dec. 9 the launch of a Web site comparing prescription drugs on price, effectiveness, and safety.

The first reports on the site compare drugs within the following categories: cholesterol-lowering drugs, in which generic lovastatin was named the “Best Buy Drug”; treatments for heartburn, ulcer, and acid reflux disease, in which Prilosec OTC won top honors; and treatment of arthritis and pain, in which generic ibuprofen and generic salsalate were named best buys. Each month, the site will post a report on another category.