Academic Literature

Prevalence of Off-Label Use and Spending Among Patent-Protected Chemotherapies

The prevalence of off-label anticancer drug use is not well characterized.

Authors

Peter B. Bach, MD, MAPP

Director, Center for Health Policy and Outcomes, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Rena M. Conti, PhD

Associate Research Director, Biopharma & Public Policy, Boston University

Arielle C. Bernstein, MPP

Victoria M. Villaflor, MD

Medical Oncology Specialist, Northwestern Memorial Hospital

Richard L. Schilsky, MD

Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer, ASCO

Meredith B. Rosenthal

Professor of Health Economics and Policy, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Originally published on 02/19/2013 in The Journal of Clinical Oncology

The extent of off-label use is a policy concern because the clinical benefits of such use to patients may not outweigh costs or adverse health outcomes.

In this study, Dr. Bach and coauthors find that patent-protected chemotherapies are used approximately 30% of the time for for off-label indications.

Read the full article here.

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Authors

Peter B. Bach, MD, MAPP

Director, Center for Health Policy and Outcomes, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Rena M. Conti, PhD

Associate Research Director, Biopharma & Public Policy, Boston University

Arielle C. Bernstein, MPP

Victoria M. Villaflor, MD

Medical Oncology Specialist, Northwestern Memorial Hospital

Richard L. Schilsky, MD

Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer, ASCO

Meredith B. Rosenthal

Professor of Health Economics and Policy, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

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