Key clinical point : Lapses in the use of MS disease-modifying oral therapy increases the risk for relapse, hospitalization, emergency department visits, and outpatient visits, and leads to higher healthcare costs.
Major finding : Over an 18-month follow-up period, those with drug lapses of more than 60 days had 28% more relapses than did the other subjects (mean 1.2 vs. 0.8; P less than .0001).
Study details : A claims database study of 8,779 patients with MS during 2011-2015
Disclosures: EMD Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, provided funding for the study. Dr. Nicholas disclosed grant support from EMD Serono, and two other study authors are employees of the company. Another two authors worked for a consulting firm that received funding from EMD Serono to conduct the study.
Citation: REPORTING FROM CMSC 2019