Open AccessAntidepressant Reformulations: Who Uses Them, And What Are The Benefits?
Author(s) -
Haiden A. Huskamp,
Alisa B. Busch,
Marisa Elena Domino,
SharonLise T. Normand
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
health affairs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.837
H-Index - 178
eISSN - 2694-233X
pISSN - 0278-2715
DOI - 10.1377/hlthaff.28.3.734
Subject(s) - incentive , antidepressant , business , health benefits , affect (linguistics) , marketing , actuarial science , medicine , economics , psychiatry , psychology , microeconomics , traditional medicine , anxiety , communication
The Hatch-Waxman Act of 1984 provides pharmaceutical manufacturers with an incentive to introduce reformulations of existing products that are about to lose patent protection, to extend marketing exclusivity and maintain high prices. Antidepressant reformulations are particularly common. To determine whether the use of reformulations confers benefits, we examined who uses them and whether they affect the duration of medication use. We found some evidence of benefit for subgroups of antidepressant users, although benefits varied across reformulations.