Healthy Skepticism Library item: 16013

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

Choudhry N, Lee J, Agnew-Blais J, Corcoran C, Shrank W.
Complexity, Lack Of Transparency Hinder Patient Assistance Programs
Journal of Health Affairs 2009 Jul 14
http://www.reducedrugprices.org/read.asp?news=3961

Full text:

Drug company-sponsored patient assistance programs (PAPs) provide access to brand-name medications at little or no cost. However, in a 2007 survey, Harvard Medical School Assistant Professor Niteesh Choudhry and colleagues found several features of PAPs that could limit their usefulness. The researchers report in the May/June 2009 issue of Health Affairs that application processes were generally complex and most programs covered only one or two drugs. Moreover, only 4 percent of surveyed PAPs disclosed how many patients they had directly helped, and more than half would not reveal their income eligibility criteria. The authors suggest several possible steps to increase transparency in PAPs, including calling for greater collection of information to help better understand the role of PAPs in assisting patients whose coverage is inadequate.

In Perspectives, Ken Johnson of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/28/3/835, and Myrl Weinberg of the National Health Council, http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/28/3/839, take issue with many of Choudhry and coauthors’ conclusions, and Choudhry and colleagues respond. http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/28/3/843.