Here’s the CNN headline, “In an attempt to reduce opioid use amid a nationwide abuse epidemic, insurance giant Cigna will no longer cover most OxyContin prescriptions in its group plans beginning January 1.”
Cigna has signed a value-based contract with Collegium Pharmaceutical for the drug Xtampza ER, an oxycodone equivalent with abuse-deterrent properties. According to Cigna’s Chief Pharmacy Officer Jon Maesner "Our focus is on helping customers get the most value from their medications -- this means obtaining effective pain relief while also guarding against opioid misuse.”
That’s fine, but there’s one fact that’s strangely absent – both drugs, Oxycontin and Xtampza ER are equally “abuse-deterrent.” Here’s another important fact – OxyContin was reformulated and in 2013 and became the first opioid with FDA-approved labeling describing abuse-deterrent characteristics. Once the poster-child for abuse, Oxycontin is now at or near the bottom of the “junkie-preferred” chart.
It’s important to understand that both products are formulated with properties designed to deter intranasal (snorting) and intravenous (injection) abuse, but that neither is abuse proof -- and one isn't "better" than the other.
What Cigna isn’t saying is that it’s customers will no longer have access to a range of FDA-approved products with abuse deterrent properties -- limiting a physician’s options to help patients and address the opioid crisis via more personalized, appropriate therapeutic choices.
So, why the switch from Oxycontin to Xtampza ER? Could it be that Cigna negotiated a better deal with Collegium than it had with Purdue Pharma (the manufacturer of Oxycontin)? Unfortunately, this decision appears to be more about pharmaceutical rebates than “guarding against opioid misuse.”
Alas, Cigna’s hyperbole has been met with silence when it comes to pricing transparency.
Cigna has signed a value-based contract with Collegium Pharmaceutical for the drug Xtampza ER, an oxycodone equivalent with abuse-deterrent properties. According to Cigna’s Chief Pharmacy Officer Jon Maesner "Our focus is on helping customers get the most value from their medications -- this means obtaining effective pain relief while also guarding against opioid misuse.”
That’s fine, but there’s one fact that’s strangely absent – both drugs, Oxycontin and Xtampza ER are equally “abuse-deterrent.” Here’s another important fact – OxyContin was reformulated and in 2013 and became the first opioid with FDA-approved labeling describing abuse-deterrent characteristics. Once the poster-child for abuse, Oxycontin is now at or near the bottom of the “junkie-preferred” chart.
It’s important to understand that both products are formulated with properties designed to deter intranasal (snorting) and intravenous (injection) abuse, but that neither is abuse proof -- and one isn't "better" than the other.
What Cigna isn’t saying is that it’s customers will no longer have access to a range of FDA-approved products with abuse deterrent properties -- limiting a physician’s options to help patients and address the opioid crisis via more personalized, appropriate therapeutic choices.
So, why the switch from Oxycontin to Xtampza ER? Could it be that Cigna negotiated a better deal with Collegium than it had with Purdue Pharma (the manufacturer of Oxycontin)? Unfortunately, this decision appears to be more about pharmaceutical rebates than “guarding against opioid misuse.”
Alas, Cigna’s hyperbole has been met with silence when it comes to pricing transparency.
