Fidaxomicin for Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea: epidemiological method for estimation of warranted price.

Background: Fidaxomicin is a macrocyclic antibiotic approved in 2011 by the US Food and Drug Administration for treatment of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea (CDAD).

Objective: Herein, we present an epidemiological method to estimate, on a case mix basis, and from the perspective of the US health system, the warranted (justifiable) price per day for fidaxomicin, as a percent of the wholesale acquisition cost (WAC) per day for fidaxomicin ($US280).

Methods: Data from two randomized controlled studies (Optimer-003 [n = 596] and Optimer-004 [n = 509]) were used to discern the number-needed-to-treat (NNT = 7.

Concomitant use of triptan, and SSRI or SNRI after the US Food and Drug Administration alert on serotonin syndrome.

Objective: The present study was designed to discern the prevalence of concomitant use of a 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor agonist (triptan), and a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) or a selective serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) after the US Food and Drug Administration issued an alert regarding serotonin syndrome in 2006 and to contrast findings with data published prior to the federal warning.

Background: In July 2006, the US Food and Drug Administration warned patients and health-care professionals to be aware that use of a triptan in combination with an SSRI or SNRI may result in a potentially life-threatening problem known as serotonin syndrome. In 2010, the American Headache Society published a position paper noting that there existed conflicting and insufficient information to discern the risk of serotonin syndrome with the use of triptan, and SSRI or SNRI, and that said Class IV data were not to be used as the basis for limiting the prescribing of triptan with SSRI or SNRI (Level U).

Diagnosis of depression and use of antidepressant pharmacotherapy among adults in the United States: does a disparity persist by ethnicity/race?

Background And Objective: Both the rate of diagnosis of depression in the US and the rate of prescribing an antidepressant for its treatment have increased substantially over the past two decades. Previous research has also indicated that the rates of diagnosis and treatment of depression with an antidepressant vary widely by ethnicity/race. The objective of this study was to discern ethnic/race-specific (non-Hispanic Black; Hispanic; non-Hispanic White) population-adjusted rates of US office-based physician-patient encounters (office-based visits) documenting a diagnosis of depression, and the extent of the use of antidepressant pharmacotherapy for its treatment.