Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33206339›Full record

ArticleDrug safety2021

Changes in Erythropoiesis Stimulating Agent Use Under a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) Program.

Ameet Sarpatwari, Mengdong He, Frazer A Tessema, Joshua J Gagne, Aaron S Kesselheim

Abstract read
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Article in Drug safety, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 31% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Ameet SarpatwariProgram On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL), Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 1620 Tremont St., Suite 3030, Boston, MA, 02120, USA. asarpatwari@bwh.harvard.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5043-6206
Mengdong HeProgram On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL), Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 1620 Tremont St., Suite 3030, Boston, MA, 02120, USA.
Frazer A TessemaProgram On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL), Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 1620 Tremont St., Suite 3030, Boston, MA, 02120, USA.
Joshua J GagneProgram On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL), Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 1620 Tremont St., Suite 3030, Boston, MA, 02120, USA.
Aaron S KesselheimProgram On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL), Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 1620 Tremont St., Suite 3030, Boston, MA, 02120, USA.
Brigham and Women's Hospital · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionRisk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) programs are intended to improve safe use of US Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs. However, controversy exists over whether they consistently accomplish this goal.

objectiveWe aimed to assess how initiation of the erythropoiesis stimulating agents (ESAs) darbepoetin alfa and epoetin alfa changed following implementation and enforcement (following a 1-year post-implementation grace period) of a prominent REMS program warning physicians against use in cancer patients with hemoglobin above 10 g/dL.

methodsUsing claims data from a large US commercial insurance company, we conducted interrupted time-series analyses of darbepoetin alfa and epoetin alfa initiation among adult cancer patients in the 12 months before REMS program implementation, after REMS program implementation, and after REMS program enforcement. We also evaluated differences in inappropriate initiation (hemoglobin tests all above 10 g/dL in the prior month) between the periods.

resultsIn total, we identified 3456 darbepoetin alfa initiators and 2632 epoetin alfa initiators. Over the study period, the monthly number of initiators per 100,000 patients with cancer fell from 119 to 32 for darbepoetin alfa and from 82 to 34 for epoetin alfa. However, non-significant post-REMS program implementation level and slope changes per 100,000 adult patients with cancer were observed for darbepoetin alfa (level 0.03 [95% confidence interval (CI) -14.98 to 15.05]; slope 1.94 [95% CI -0.22 to 4.10]) and epoetin alfa (level -4.10 [95% CI -16.85 to 8.65]; slope -0.52 [95% CI -2.35 to 1.32]). Non-significant post-REMS program enforcement level and slope changes were also seen for both drugs (darbepoetin alfa level 1.58 [95% CI -0.58 to 3.74, slope -0.28 [95% CI -15.29 to 14.73]; epoetin alfa level 1.58 (95% CI -0.26 to 3.42], slope 5.74 [95% CI -7.01 to 18.49]). Finally, non-significant changes in inappropriate darbepoetin alfa (60% vs. 53% vs. 57%, p = 0.68) and epoetin alfa (53% vs. 53% vs. 46%, p = 0.41) initiation were observed between the three study periods.

conclusionREMS program implementation and enforcement were not associated with significant changes in ESA initiation, adding to concerns over the degree to which certain REMS programs enhance patient safety.

Indexed as

AnemiaErythropoietinHematinicsNeoplasmsAdultDarbepoetin alfaEpoetin AlfaHemoglobinsHumansRecombinant ProteinsRisk Evaluation and MitigationDarbepoetin alfaEpoetin AlfaErythropoietinHematinicsHemoglobinsRecombinant Proteins

Identifiers

PMID33206339
OpenAlexW3103374882

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.