Requiring people with schizophrenia to first fail on an older, inexpensive generic antipsychotic before allowing them to switch to the newer antipsychotic Zyprexa® (olanzapine) may not result in cost savings overall, according to a new study published in this month’s issue of Value in Health.
The data showed that despite higher medication costs of Zyprexa, the difference in one-year direct total costs between Zyprexa, as initial (first-line) treatment, and conventional antipsychotics as first line treatment, was small and not statistically significant.
Findings indicate that any savings on medication costs were offset by the increased costs of other services associated with treatment with conventional antipsychotics including hospitalizations, crisis interventions and emergency room visits.
Researchers in this study also compared the cost-effectiveness of Zyprexa (mean modal dose 13.49 mg/day) and Risperdal® (risperidone) (mean modal dose 4.95 mg/day) as first-line treatment for schizophrenia and found the total costs associated with the two medications to be similar and not significantly different from each other.
This cost-effectiveness study was designed specifically to compare the clinical and social effectiveness and total direct costs of treatment with different antipsychotics, to help inform private and public payer systems’ practices and policies regarding first-line antipsychotic options for treating schizophrenia.
“These data showed that regardless of whether a person was initiated on a conventional or atypical antipsychotic, the overall direct costs of treating a person with schizophrenia for one year were essentially the same,” said Ralph Aquila, M.D., one of twenty-one study investigators who is the director of residential community services at St. Luke’s/Roosevelt Hospital Center. “This study suggests that cost cutting efforts that require patients with schizophrenia to first fail on older, conventional antipsychotics before providing access to newer medications like Zyprexa, do not necessarily result in overall cost savings and may unnecessarily restrict access to the most optimal treatment for patients.”
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One Comment to
“Camparing Costs Of Older Conventional Antipsychotics With Zyprexa, An Atypical Antipsychotic, In The Treatment Of Schizophrenia”
I took zyprexa starting in 1996 the year the FDA approved it, which was ineffective for my condition and gave me diabetes.
Zyprexa is the product name for Olanzapine,it is Lilly’s top selling drug.It was approved by the FDA in 1996 ,an ‘atypical’ antipsychotic a newer class of drugs without the motor side effects of the older Thorazine.Zyprexa has been linked to causing diabetes and pancreatitis.
Zyprexa, which is used for the treatment of psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, accounted for 32% of Eli Lilly’s $14.6 billion revenue last year.
Did you know that Lilly made nearly $3 billion last year on diabetic meds, Actos,Humulin and Byetta?
Yes! They sell a drug that can cause diabetes and then turn a profit on the drugs that treat the condition that they may have caused in the first place!
I was prescribed Zyprexa from 1996 until 2000.
In early 2000 i was shocked to have an A1C test result of 13.9 (normal is 4-6) I have no history of diabetes in my family.
All the psychiatrist I’ve interviewed and the information on line presents zyprexa as a worse offender than the other Atypicals such as seroquel.My doctor has stopped prescribing zyprexa altogether.
The PDR classifies zyprexa as ’severe’ for causing weight gain and diabetes and seroquel as ‘moderate’.
Of course the 50 year old Thorazine didn’t cause diabetes and is many times cheaper but it could cause tardive dyskinesia.
Where Eli Lilly’s negligence comes in,is their KNOWING and not informing consumers (black box warning) until the FDA demanded it.
Lilly’s incentive not to readily disclose is they had billions coming in from state medicaid scripts.
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Daniel Haszard http://www.zyprexa-victims.com
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Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 7 Jan 2006
