Summaries of Must-Read Clinical Literature, Guidelines, and FDA Actions

As Costs for Neurologic Drugs Rise, Adherence to Therapy Drops

Publish date:: February 21, 2020

Key clinical point: Physicians should consider prescribing neurology drugs with lower out-of-pocket costs to improve patient adherence.

Major finding: A $50 increase in drug price to patient resulted in an 12% decrease in adherence for patients taking cholinesterase inhibitors for dementia, and an 8% decrease among those taking gabapentinoid drugs for neuropathy.

Study details: A retrospective cohort study of diagnostic and prescription records for more than 80,000 patients from a large commercial insurer.

Disclosures: The American Academy of Neurology sponsored the study. The lead author and two coauthors reported industry funding.

Citation:

Reynolds EL et al. Neurology. 2020 Feb 19. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000009039.

This Week's Must Reads

Younger adults present with more advanced esophageal adenocarcinoma,

Osteoporosis prevalence in PsA similar to general population,

Mortality risks rise with age, infections, but not inhibitor status in persons with non-severe hemophilia A,

DOACs look safe in elective endoscopic procedures,

Anorexia and diarrhea top list of GI symptoms in COVID-19 patients,

Must Reads in Alzheimer's & Cognition

Vascular dementia risk particularly high in type 2 diabetes,

Mortality burden of dementia may be greater than estimated,

Cognitive deficits complex in youths with type 2 diabetes,

Population study supports migraine-dementia link,

Mixed results for aducanumab in two phase 3 trials for Alzheimer’s disease,