Use of Pharmacoeconomics Information—Report of the ISPOR Task Force on Use of Pharmacoeconomic/Health Economic Information in Health-Care Decision Making

Objectives: Despite the growing number of pharmacoeconomic (PE)/health economic (HE) studies, very little is known about their use by decision makers. The objectives of the Task Force were to ensure that the good research practices of PE/HE studies pay attention to the needs of health-care decision makers and to develop a “toolbox” for the health-care decision maker wanting to interpret and use PE/HE studies. Methods: The membership of the Task Force consisted of individuals involved in making decisions about the availability or use of medicines and researchers into the use of economic evaluations. The group communicated by E-mail and face-to-face meetings. A literature review of decision makers’ attitudes toward PE/HE studies and published economic evaluation guidelines was undertaken. In addition, a focus group discussion was held with opinion leaders in managed care pharmacy. Results: The literature review identified 16 surveys of decision makers’ attitudes toward PE/HE studies and 15 published guidelines that outlined reporting requirements for economic evaluations. These were reviewed and classified. Based on the published literature and comments from decision makers, seven additional reporting requirements for studies were specified. Conclusions: While the Task Force's additional reporting requirements may be helpful to decision makers, they raise a number of issues. These include the feasibility of meeting the additional requirements, whether decision makers should receive more education in economic evaluation, and whether there should be more study of health-care decision-making procedures themselves.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73067/1/j.1524-4733.2003.64245.x.pd

Rx Roulette: combatting counterfeit pharmaceuticals in developing nations

The debate over access to medicines has principally centered on pharmaceutical patents and prohibitively high drug prices. Although a less recognized problem, counterfeit pharmaceuticals are certainly a more insidious barrier to access. Pharmaceutical counterfeiting is an invisible threat, not only by nature, but also because the industry has historically downplayed it. However, that has changed. Pharmaceutical firms now not only readily concede counterfeiting is a threat to their business, but in some cases publicly address their strategies and the anticounterfeiting technologies in use and development. Acknowledging the problem has benefited the industry because it alters the ways in which firms are able to combat counterfeiting, allowing them to more overtly confront the problem. In addition, it allows them to better partner with governments and health advocates since their incentives are aligned in efforts to prevent counterfeiting. In light of the more public and more aggressive campaign against counterfeiting, it is important to examine the variety of strategies firms may utilize to prevent their sale. Through a theoretical model of the market in a representative developing country, several anticounterfeiting strategies are considered. Some strategies appear to be more effective than others in the battle against fake drugs. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.