Policy Papers
Why Patients Need a Choice of Medicines
A growing body of literature shows the broad extent to which patients respond differently to the same medicines and explains why patients benefit from a broad choice of therapies. Research shows that a variety of factors—such as genetic variation, age, the complexity of disease, and the number of other conditions (comorbidities) a person has—cause people to respond differently to medicines. At the same time, coverage policies for pharmaceuticals are often based on the assumption that different medicines have an equal effect on all patients. This approach overlooks important differences in patients’ responses to medicines and puts patients at risk for not getting the most appropriate treatment.
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A growing body of literature shows the broad extent to which patients respond differently to the same medicines and explains why patients benefit from a broad choice of therapies. Research shows that a variety of factors—such as genetic variation, age, the complexity of disease, and the number of other conditions (comorbidities) a person has—cause people to respond differently to medicines. At the same time, coverage policies for pharmaceuticals are often based on the assumption that different medicines have an equal effect on all patients. This approach overlooks important differences in patients’ responses to medicines and puts patients at risk for not getting the most appropriate treatment.
Read more.