Health Affairs

Health Affairs, 28, no. 3 (2009): 843-844 doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.28.3.843 © 2009 by Project HOPE	New Online   Getting Health Reform Done   After the State of the Union   Incremental Reform   E-Health in Developing World   Most-Read Articles in 2009

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Perspectives

PERSPECTIVE

Patient Assistance Programs: Information Is Not Our Enemy

Niteesh K. Choudhry, Joy L. Lee, Jessica Agnew-Blais, Colleen Corcoran and William H. Shrank

KEN JOHNSON OF Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and Myrl Weinberg of the National Health Council take issue with findings from our survey of drug company–sponsored patient assistance programs (PAPs).¹ Our disagreement is partly the result of a healthy debate on how best to structure our health care system. More problematic are the commentaries’ mischaracterizations about our study’s intent and findings. This distracts from the goal of helping patients who need help the most.

Where We Disagree

 
Process versus outcome. We surveyed drug company–sponsored PAPs to better understand the application process and the comprehensiveness of coverage. In our paper, we raise a concern . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Information is not regulation.Standards of evidence.Misplaced or misquoted?The real "real world."Information is not our enemy.

The Bottom Line

 

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