After spending time and money to see a dermatologist, many patients with acne fail to fill their prescription. Cost sharing is the culprit, according to a recently published study.
Data published in the Journal of Rheumatology revealed that 27% of patients with psoriatic arthritis who had experience with biologics and/or small-molecule agents reported barriers to treatment, with the most common hurdles being coverage ineligibility and high out-of-pocket costs.
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common, chronic, relapsing, inflammatory skin disease that affects children and adults. Until recently, the only Food and Drug Administration–approved systemic treatment option for patients with moderate-to-severe AD was systemic steroids, which are not recommended by current guidelines and are commonly associated with disease rebound.
In 2016/2017 ESC undertook a quality of life insights project to better understand the burden of living with atopic dermatitis, the quality of life impact, and the needs of those living with atopic dermatitis.
From The George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences
The Derma Care Access Network (DCAN) recently elected Adam Friedman, MD, associate professor of dermatology at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, as president of the organization, which advocates for patients who face challenges in getting access to dermatological medications.
DCAN, founded in early 2016, sponsors educational advocacy initiatives and educational programs with the aim of promoting policymaking centered on access to therapies and clinical care in the dermatology field. Stakeholders in the organization include patients, physicians, researchers, and patient advocates; Friedman has been a member since the organization’s inception.
“I am honored to be elected president of this rapidly expanding organization,” Friedman said. “The work DCAN is doing to support patients is incredibly important, and I look forward to advocating for policies that will advance the field of dermatology.”
Friedman said his primary goal is to “advocate for public policy that overcomes barriers limiting patient access to approved treatments and appropriate clinical care for a broad array of skin conditions.”
To accomplish this goal, he said, DCAN will raise awareness about step therapy, prior authorizations, medical switching, and other barriers to access among physicians, members of the industry, policymakers, and patients through educational programming. That programming will include white papers, media engagement, and medical conference engagement, he added.
DCAN is a subgroup of the Alliance for Patient Access, a national network of physicians dedicated to ensuring patient access to approved therapies and appropriate clinical care.
Adam Friedman, MD, FAAD, is an associate professor of dermatology in the department of dermatology at George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, DC, where he also serves as the Residency Program Director and the Director of Translational Research. In addition, Dr. Friedman is a member of the medical advisory board for the Derma Care Access Network (DCAN), where he is helping to turn up the volume on important access to care issues in dermatology.
WHAT IS THE DERMA CARE ACCESS NETWORK (DCAN)?
Adam Friedman, MD: DCAN is a project of the Alliance for Patient Access that is dedicated to addressing issues related to access to therapies and clinical care in dermatology. We are a group of stakeholders including patients, patient advocates, physicians, and scientists, and together we are sponsoring educational initiatives and advocacy programs to encourage informed policymaking about the benefits of access to approved therapies and appropriate clinical care.
Read more at Practical Dermatology.
” The Atopic Dermatitis Yardstick is part of a series developed in response to the need to proactively address the loss of disease control for atopic illnesses at all levels of severity
What began as a safeguard against unnecessary drug spending has become a significant barrier to patient access.
This October Eczema Awareness Month, groups and advocates from across the healthcare landscape are taking action to raise awareness for patients living with eczema and severe atopic dermatitis. Millions of Americans suffer from the burden of this disease, and this month presents an opportunity to help tell the story of the unmet medical need they continue to face.
Here are a few helpful resources that can be used to raise awareness:
Eczema Matters
Eczema Matters is a central resource with up-to-date information on treatments, patient stories, therapy breakthroughs and more.
Eczema Resource Center
Eczema Resource Center discusses the types of eczema/dermatitis with detail on symptoms, causes, treatment, and tips on how to manage eczema.
Eczema (Atopic Dermatitis) Resource
Atopic Dermatitis Resources provides an overview of eczema, from symptoms of eczema, how it is diagnosed, and treatment and management of eczema. It also features a link to a Asthma and Allergies Symptom Test.
Eczema in Children
Eczema in Children provides information on how eczema affects children.
Eczema Exposed
Eczema Exposed features a discussion guide to help start a conversation with a provider and a tool that helps you find a dermatologist or allergist in your area.
Overcoming Barriers to Dermatological Treatment White Paper
“Overcoming Barriers to Dermatological Treatment” that dives into various skin conditions (including eczema) and how it is difficult for patients to obtain treatment.
About Eczema
About Eczema site that features information on eczema, how to identify it, typical treatments, environmental risks, and other common issues.
Eczema (Atopic Dermatitis) Page
About Eczema site provides helpful overview about what eczema is and how to identify it.
Webinar Wednesdays
Webinar Wednesdays: Ongoing educational webinars with world-class medical experts discussing the latest in disease management, research, treatments and related information you need to live well with eczema.
Tens of millions of people across the United States are affected by skin conditions, but not all of them can access the doctors and medications they need. So explains a new white paper from the Derma Care Access Network, an advocacy group that encourages informed policy on access to dermatological care.
As “Overcoming Barriers to Dermatological Treatment” explains, skin conditions vary from the cosmetic to the deadly. The paper calls out in particular:
- Atopic dermatitis (commonly known as eczema), which affects more than 30 million Americans
- Psoriasis, which affects 7.5 million
- Acne, which affects as many as 50 million people
- Chronic urticarial, which causes red, itchy welts, and which affects 15-20% of the population
- Skin cancer, the most common cancer in the United States, which affects 5.4 million people and has an estimated 9,500 diagnoses every day.
Patients with skin conditions may also have comorbidities such as chronic pulmonary disease, diabetes, renal disease and rheumatic disease. But obtaining treatment can be difficult.
Read more at Institute for Patient Access.
From Practical Dermatology
Eight biologic drugs (not to mention three biosimilars) are currently approved to treat psoriasis and there is a greater understanding within the medical community that this disease goes more than skin deep. We are nearing a tipping point, but even with all this progress, still more is needed to improve the quality of life for the 7.5 million people in the United States who live with this disease.
Practical Dermatology® asked some thought leaders to share what they wish for to further advance care of these patients.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE from Practical Dermatology.
Katie Kastan was worried. Her infant daughter Lucy was unusually fussy and having trouble falling asleep. One pediatrician wrote off her concerns as typical new mother paranoia.
Then Katie, who lives in Lino Lakes, Minnesota, noticed Lucy’s skin was red and itchy – eczema.
Lucy was showing signs that suggest early allergic disease.
In young children, allergies often first express themselves as eczema. The skin condition can also be associated with food allergies, ear infections, allergic rhinitis and asthma – the so-called allergic march.
Katie brought Lucy to an allergist for testing after she later showed signs of food allergies. The allergist found Lucy has peanut and dairy allergies. Soon after Katie was found to be allergic to pollen and dogs. “If she gets licked by a dog, she breaks out in hives,” Katie says.
Now age 4, Lucy is experiencing fewer allergic reactions to dogs – instead of progressing to a more severe response.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE from the Allergy and Asthma Network.
Elizabeth Falkner’s career was just starting to take off. She was in her early 30s, a chef and owner of a trendy San Francisco restaurant, when she began to experience painful, itchy skin rashes and lesions on her legs.
At first Elizabeth chalked it up to irritation from wearing shin guards – she’s an avid soccer player. Then the rashes appeared on her arms and hands.
“It kept getting worse – it was a burning sensation,” she says. “I went to my doctor and was diagnosed with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis.”
READ THE FULL ARTICLE from the Allergy Asthma Network.
Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc has recently announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Dupixent (dupilumab) Injection, the first and only biologic medicine approved for the treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD) whose disease is not adequately controlled with topical prescription therapies, or when those therapies are not advisable.
Read more at Biospectrumasia