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Do users of risperidone who switch brands because of generic reference pricing fare better or worse than non-switchers? A New Zealand natural experiment

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Abstract

This study evaluated patient health outcomes and any impact on healthcare costs consequent to the implementation of generic reference-pricing of risperidone in New Zealand using national datasets. Reference pricing risperidone reduced the price of the originator brand by 50 % as well as overall expenditure on risperidone tablets. Half of all patients made a single switch to generic risperidone, with the remainder making multiple switches between brands. 1.5 % made a switch-back to the originator brand. No difference was found in use of healthcare services between switchers and non-switchers of the originator brand or versus the comparator group. This refutes the available literature on brand-to-generic and generic-to-generic switching.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Health Systems Section, School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand

    Charon Lessing, Toni Ashton & Peter Davis

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  1. Charon Lessing
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Correspondence to Charon Lessing.

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Lessing, C., Ashton, T. & Davis, P. Do users of risperidone who switch brands because of generic reference pricing fare better or worse than non-switchers? A New Zealand natural experiment. Adm Policy Ment Health 42, 695–703 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-014-0606-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-014-0606-9

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