PainRelief.com Interview with:
Youssef Labib
PharmD Candidate
University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy
PainRelief.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Compounded pain medication price data was gathered from over 30 community pharmacies for the sole purpose of directing our patients to both the most accessible and affordable compounding pharmacy.
A drastic variation in price was noticed and this report was published to comment on potential implications.
PainRelief.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response: It should be noted that the prices of compounded pain medications vary significantly across local community pharmacies. The implications of such a finding are manifold, and are very important for both patients and prescribing physicians to consider.
Quite often patients are paying out of pocket for these compounded medications, so knowledge that there may be a cheaper alternative and how to go about sourcing it would be helpful. On that same note, increasing prescriber awareness about the potential price variation of compounded pain medications could encourage prescribers to note the compounding pharmacies nearby that have more affordable prices. This may prove to be instrumental in increasing affordability, accessibility and adherence for patients who struggle financially.
PainRelief.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this work?
Response: Perhaps further and larger studies may explore the potential drastic variation of compounded medication costs in other therapeutic areas beyond chronic pain to more sufficiently generalize the finding and its subsequent influence on patient adherence, accessibility and affordability.
Citation:
Youssef Labib, BSc, PharmD Candidate, Price Variation of Compounded Pain Medications, Pain Medicine, 2021;, pnab156, https://doi.org/10.1093/pm/pnab156
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Last Updated on May 7, 2021 by PainRelief.com