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Pharmaceutical Drugs

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Although pharmaceutical drugs on the whole greatly improve patient outcomes and quality of life when used as prescribed, they are not without their complications. RAND research on pharmaceuticals examines their safety and effectiveness, relevant health economics issues, prescription drug abuse, challenges related to access and adherence, and pharmaceutical regulatory policy.

News Release
Opioid Prescribing Declines, but Cuts Are Not Uniform Across Locations, Age Groups, or Type of Prescriber
The volume of prescription opioids dispensed from retail pharmacies declined by 21 percent from 2008 to 2018, but the decline was not uniform across geographic areas, among types of patients, or by type of prescriber.
Dec 27, 2021
Project
Comparing International Prescription Drug Prices
Prescription drug prices in the United States average 2.56 times those in 32 other nations. In a new animation, information designer Gabrielle Mérite illustrates this subject that may seem distant from American consumers but has a concrete impact on their health and finances.
Dec 14, 2021

Explore Pharmaceutical Drugs

News Release
State Policies Requiring Education for Buprenorphine Prescribers Boosts Use of Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
States that want to increase access to buprenorphine, a lifesaving medication used to treat opioid use disorder, should consider efforts to enhance professional education and clinician knowledge.
May 26, 2023
Journal Article
Estimated Annual Spending on Lecanemab and Its Ancillary Costs in the US Medicare Program
To estimate annual Medicare spending on lecanemab, we performed a cost analysis using nationally representative survey data from the 2018 Health and Retirement Study (HRS).
May 17, 2023
Journal Article
A Randomized Trial of Letters to Encourage Prescription Monitoring Program Use and Safe Opioid Prescribing
Researchers conducted a randomized trial to assess whether letters to clinicians increased use of the state prescription monitoring programs (PMP) and decreased risky coprescribing of opioids with benzodiazepines or gabapentinoids.
Apr 20, 2023
Report
Impacts of increasing requirements for research and development (R&D) cost transparency: Literature review
A literature review shows that increasing the transparency of the research and development costs of new medicines is much discussed. But there is no evidence of the impact this would have on medicines' prices or the rate of innovation.
Mar 31, 2023
News Release
U.S. Opioid Crisis Best Viewed as Connected Ecosystem; Changing Policymakers' Approach Can Aid Solutions
The nation's opioid crisis, which kills thousands of Americans annually, is best viewed as an ecosystem where all parts of the vexing problem are interconnected, underscoring the need for holistic solutions that address the broad needs of those with substance use disorders, their families, and the communities where they live.
Mar 16, 2023
Report
America's Opioid Ecosystem
Patterns and consequences of opioid use are changing dramatically. Researchers provide a nuanced assessment of America's opioid ecosystem, highlighting how leveraging system interactions can reduce addiction, overdose, suffering, and other harms.
Mar 16, 2023
Visualization
The Ecosystem Approach to Opioid Policy
RAND researchers created a tool to help federal, state, and local policymakers better understand issues surrounding opioids as an ecosystem—and explore innovative policy ideas.
Mar 16, 2023
Journal Article
Prior Authorization Restrictions on Medications for Opioid Use Disorder: Trends in State Laws from 2005 to 2019
Researchers conducted a review of U.S. regulations and statutes between 2005 and 2019 related to medications for opioid use disorder to identify the frequency and types of prior authorization prohibitions in state laws.
Feb 9, 2023
Blog
State of the Union 2023: Insights from RAND
In his second State of the Union address, President Joe Biden covered a wide range of issues facing the United States at home and abroad, including police violence, gun policy, Russia's war in Ukraine, and U.S. competition with China.
Feb 8, 2023
Journal Article
An Exploratory Analysis of Differential Prescribing of High-Risk Opioids by Insurance Type Among Patients Seen by the Same Clinician
The objective of this paper is to explore how high-risk opioid analgesic prescribing varies by payer type among patients seeing the same prescriber and identify clinician characteristics associated with variable prescribing.
Feb 8, 2023
Commentary
Ten Things That Inspired Me in 2022
It would be impossible to capture all the important work that RAND does in a year. But RAND president and CEO Jason Matheny has compiled ten times he was inspired by RAND's efforts to bring insight to some of the biggest policy stories of 2022.
Dec 15, 2022
Journal Article
Trends in the Concurrent Prescription of Opioids and Gabapentin in the US, 2006 to 2018
Researchers examined 2006 to 2018 US national deidentified pharmacy claims data and analyzed trends in concurrent gabapentin and opioid prescribing, overall and by prescriber, patient, and county characteristics.
Dec 8, 2022
News Release
Buprenorphine Use Remained Stable During First Year of Pandemic, but New Prescriptions Dropped During Period
The number of active prescriptions for the opioid disorder treatment drug buprenorphine remained constant during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the number of new prescriptions for the treatment was far below what would normally have been expected.
Dec 7, 2022
Journal Article
Part D Senior Savings Model: Model Reach and Scope
This report describes the reach and scope of Medicare's Part D Senior Savings model, which has lower, fixed cost sharing for a specified set of model drugs.
Nov 9, 2022
Commentary
Medicare Drug Price Negotiation: Key Decisions to Reach a 'Fair Price'
Government negotiation of Medicare drug prices—even for a small set of older, single-source drugs—is a remarkable policy development. But how exactly will the government do it?
Nov 7, 2022
Journal Article
Association Between Hospital-Physician Vertical Integration and Medication Adherence Rates
Increases in vertical integration were not associated with changes in medication adherence rates. However, adherence rates after vertical integration declined for non-Whites, patients over 80 years old, and patients with greater comorbidities.
Oct 28, 2022
Journal Article
Trends in Out-of-Pocket Costs for Naloxone by Drug Brand and Payer in the US, 2010–2018
The findings suggest that the out-of-pocket cost of naloxone has been an increasingly substantial barrier to naloxone access for uninsured patients, a population that constitutes nearly one-fifth of adults with opioid use disorder.
Oct 27, 2022
Journal Article
Changes in Buprenorphine and Methadone Supplies in the US During the COVID-19 Pandemic
This cross-sectional study found that the per capita supply of methadone declined significantly in the second quarter of 2020 and had not returned to 2019 levels as of June 2021. The per capita supply of buprenorphine increased during the same period.
Sep 30, 2022
Journal Article
Development of a Metric to Detect and Decrease Low-Value Prescribing in Older Adults
In this qualitative study of 27 low-value prescribing practices, a panel of experts was convened using an online modified-Delphi approach to develop a scientifically valid and clinically useful low-value prescribing metric.
Sep 21, 2022
Journal Article
Consensus-Based Guidance on Opioid Management in Individuals With Advanced Cancer-Related Pain and Opioid Misuse or Use Disorder
This qualitative study provides consensus-based guidance for clinicians and highlights research and policy gaps that warrant urgent attention to meet the needs of people with cancer-related pain and opioid misuse/use disorder.
Sep 21, 2022

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RAND Topic:
Pharmaceutical Drugs

Topic Synonyms:
Medicinal Drugs

Research conducted by

RAND Health Care

Researcher Spotlight

Kanaka Shetty

Physician Policy Researcher

Kanaka Shetty is a physician policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. He is also an affiliate faculty member at the Pardee RAND Graduate School and a practicing hospital-based internist. His current research assesses quality measurement programs with a focus on provider impact as well as…
Andrew W. Mulcahy

Senior Policy Researcher

Andrew Mulcahy is a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. His key research areas are prescription drugs, payment for health care services and drugs, and policy evaluation in general. He routinely uses large-scale health care claims and transactional data in his research.

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