Wyeth's Enbrel cuts doctor visits in PA

The USA's Wyeth Pharmaceuticals says that Enbrel (etanercept) relieved the joint and skin symptoms of psoriatic artritis and was also associated with a substantial reduction in the use of health care resources, time lost from work and care giver burden.

Data from the 1,122-patient trial were presented at the First World Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis conference, held in Stockholm, Sweden, and showed that, over a 24-week period from the start of treatment, Enbrel brought about significant reductions in health care resource utilization. Notably, patient visits to physicians' offices (other than dermatologists) were reduced 45% and emergency room or urgent care visits dropped 62%, while visits to nurse practitioners and physician's assistants plummetted 79%.