Identifying which treatments for multiple sclerosis have the most promise is challenging because there are no head-to-head studies comparing treatments and what's promising for one clinician is different than what's promising for another clinician, explained June Halper, MSN, APN-C, MSCN, FAAN, chief executive officer, Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers.
Identifying which treatments for multiple sclerosis have the most promise is challenging because there are no head-to-head studies comparing treatments and what's promising for one clinician is different than what's promising for another clinician, explained June Halper, MSN, APN-C, MSCN, FAAN, chief executive officer, Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers.
Transcript
Within the last year or so, what treatments have been demonstrating the greatest promise in managing multiple sclerosis?
It’s a hard question to answer in terms of what has shown the greatest promise. If you ask patients, they would probably answer marijuana because pot is becoming legalized in a number of states, and in many instances, patients consider that a treatment. When we talk about disease-modifying therapy, there really are no head-to-head studies where you would say Betaseron or Avonex or better than Gilenya. So, we really don’t know which is the most promising.
What’s the most promising for one clinician is different for another clinicians. I guess we have to wait to see if, one, there will be a comparable study. I doubt it. But more and more, we’re going to see things like roundtables like you do here in your organization to try and get some expert opinion, to listen to the key opinion leaders who can say, “In my experience, "X" medication works better than "Y" medication on patients that have had MS [multiple sclerosis] for less than 5 years and have the following picture.” I think that’s the thing we have to rely on most, at least for now, is the expert opinion and the widespread experience that clinicians have with the various drugs.
The other problem we face is the insurance companies, they might not have particular drugs in their formularies, so certain clinicians may not be able to analyze their outcome or their benefit because their patients might not be entitled to get them. In this country, we have a wide variety of challenges. In Canada for example, it’s a nationalized health system, so they have access to all the drugs.
So, that question’s a tough question that I’m hoping will be answered, mainly by expert opinion and long-standing experience, over the next few years.
Dr Kathy Zackowski Discusses the Importance of Rehabilitation Research and Trials in MS
April 26th 2024Kathy Zackowski, PhD, National MS Society, expresses the inherent value of quality rehabilitation trials for broadening clinical understandings of multiple sclerosis (MS) and bettering patient outcomes.
Read More
Examining Low-Value Cancer Care Trends Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 25th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the April 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on the rates of low-value cancer care services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Listen
Empowering Community Health Through Wellness and Faith
April 23rd 2024To help celebrate and recognize National Minority Health Month, we are bringing you a special month-long podcast series with our Strategic Alliance Partner, UPMC Health Plan. In the third episode, Camille Clarke-Smith, EdD, MS, CHES, CPT, discusses approaching community health holistically through spiritual and community engagement.
Listen
Dr Michael Farwell on FDG PET/CT Imaging to Predict Immunotherapy Response in Advanced Melanoma
April 15th 2024Michael Farwell, MD, associate professor of radiology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, provides insights into a study on the benefits of using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT imaging to detect metabolic tumor changes in skin cancer.
Read More