The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #46933

Heather J Macnaughtan, MS, AdvancePCS, 9501 E Shea Blvd. MC 9, Scottsdale, AZ 85260, 480-314-8214, heather.macnaughtan@advancepcs.com

Learning Objective:

Participants will discover the effect Anthrax concern had on prescription claims for Anthrax drugs.

Abstract:

We were interested in knowing if the public's reaction to the media attention on Cipro during the Anthrax scare last year was manifested by an increase in the number of prescription claims (necessary or otherwise) for Cipro, an antibiotic produced by Bayer Pharmaceuticals, primarily for the treatment of Anthrax.

The data for this investigation was obtained from the AdvancePCS warehouse of prescription claims. AdvancePCS provides healthcare coverage for approximately 75 million Americans, and processes over 1 million claims a day. Prescription trends for the time period in question (September 2001 through November 2001) were compared to the previous year's trends. Further data analyses identified demographic trends by geographic region, age group and gender.

There was a marked increase (27% over last year at the peak) in the number of Cipro prescriptions, but not for the other antibiotics (e.g.: penicillin, tetracycline, erythromycin, chloramphenicol, doxycycline.) Among Cipro claims, several demographic trends were also observed. Other drugs typically used to treat Anthrax were also examined, but had noticeably less increase in prescription claims than the media-hyped Cipro.

Investigations like this are useful for a variety of reasons:

• Identification of demographic sectors that require more education (i.e.: "trouble" areas)
• Identify physicians who are "over-prescribing" or "mis-prescribing"
• Further analysis can predict future reactions or trends in drug stockpiling

Learning Objectives:

• We were interested in knowing if the public's
• reaction to the media attention on Cipro during
• the Anthrax scare last year was manifested by an
• increase in the number of prescription claims for Cipro.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: AdvancePCS, Bayer Pharmaceuticals
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: I am an employee of AdvancePCS. I was the primary developer of the product used to retrieve the data used in the presentation.