Medical claims for GI events by patients on antiplatelet therapy

A review of medical claims from more than 70 managed care plans showed that 6.2% of patients prescribed the antiplatelet medicine clopidogrel  submitted at least one insurance claim for ulcer or gastrointestinal  bleeding, according to data released by Cogentus Pharmaceuticals, at  the annual meeting of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics  and Outcomes Research, held in Toronto, Canada.

Clopidogrel, marketed as Plavix by developer France's Sanofi-Aventis and  US partner Bristol-Myers Squibb, is among the world's largest-selling  prescription drugs and is used to prevent heart attacks and strokes. The  retrospective study tracked insurance claims for GI adverse events  among over 368,000 patients in the 12 months following their first  prescription for clopidogrel.

"This study provides important new information about the frequency of  medical attention for gastrointestinal events required by an insured  population on antiplatelet therapy," said lead author Pablo Lapuerta,  chief medical officer and senior vice president for clinical strategy at  USA-based Cogentus.