Arthritis sufferers are the leading patient group not refilling theirprescriptions, says Xpand Rx, a new IMS database product which measures prescribed drug therapy patient noncompliance. IMS marketing vice president Bob Merrold said the data showed almost 70% of all antiarthritic prescriptions are never refilled, and that of the prescriptions that are refilled, the average patient takes 50% too long to obtain the refill.
Failure to follow prescribed therapy regimens is common in many leading therapeutic classes, IMS data shows. Others in the top 10 noncompliance rankings are estrogen/progesterones, antispasmodics, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, beta blockers, cholesterol reducers, ACE inhibitors, calcium blockers, oral estrogens and benzodiazepine tranquilizers. These categories ranked above or just below 50% in nonpersistence, which IMS defines as prescription refills not actually bought. Antiarthritics, antispasmodics, SSRIs, cholesterol reducers, oral estrogens and benzodiazepines all exceeded 20% in noncompliance or additional time taken to consume purchased prescriptions.
Xpand Rx data puts individual-company lost revenues due to nonpersistence over $1 billion a year, and revenues lost to the industry due to all types of noncompliance at $25 billion this year. Noncompliance also costs $100 billion in health care and productivity, notes a recent report.
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