By: Malorye Allison Branca, BioPharma Dive, May 15, 2017
It’s one of the least-appreciated aspects of medicine, but for a wide range of diseases, including AIDS, asthma, diabetes and hypertension, adherence to treatment recommendations can also be one of the most important factors. And not just in a patient’s health, but also in a drug’s success. Drugs with unpleasant side effects, high costs for patients or regimens that are difficult to comply with can face an uphill battle commercially. It’s one thing to convince doctors to prescribe them, but getting patients to take them regularly is a whole other matter.
Rates of non-adherence vary widely, and depend on the condition, costs and other issues. Sometimes patients just forget or simply can’t afford a medication, other times they don’t like the side effects. They may even have just Googled the drug and decided it’s not for them. Read more here.