"CV Risk Rises When Payers Deny Alirocumab, Evolocumab Coverage" - Megan Brooks
It has real-world health consequences when patients prescribed PCSK9 inhibitors don't actually get their medication, which often happens because their third-party payer doesn't cover the costly drugs, suggests a retrospective study. Patients in the analysis who could not take advantage of their prescriptions for alirocumab (Praluent, Sanofi/Regeneron) or evolocumab (Repatha, Amgen), either because they were rejected by payers or never filled, showed a greater risk for cardiovascular (CV) events than patients who filled and received their PCSK9 inhibitor prescriptions. "Either one of them should have allowed for these patients to receive additional LDL-cholesterol-lowering therapy," Robert Rosenson, MD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, who wasn't involved in the study. This study "really brings to the forefront the interference of the insurance companies that are trying to decrease their budget for prescriptions that is resulting in more costs overall for society," Dr. Rosenson observed.
— Robert Rosenson, MD, FACC, FESC, FAHA, Professor, Medicine, Cardiology, Director, Cardiometabolic Disorders, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
