Florida Medicaid’s new policy will no longer pay for Neurontin, Zyprexa and so-called COX II pain relievers Celebrex, Vioxx and Bextra unless they are prescribed as listed on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration label, the Sun Sentinel reports.
The new policy ends coverage for many “off-label” uses, uses not approved by the FDA, forcing thousands of Florida Medicaid patients to go without drugs, search for alternatives or pay out of pocket.
“Doctors can prescribe medicines any way they choose, but insurers can refuse to pay for off-label use. The Legislature restricted the five expensive drugs as a way to cut $21 million from the $2.2 billion pharmacy budget of Medicaid,” the Sun-Sentinel reports.
(via Sun-Sentinel)
3 responses so far ↓
Valerie // Aug 11, 2004 at 11:23 am
I’m gald top hear medicaid is doing this. I took neurontin for a while to treat abnormal nerve sensations caused by myCharcot-Marie-Tooth disease. It did not work and it was very costly. I think a drug should only be used for what it was intended for not for experiemental things like what I went through.
Cynthia // Dec 19, 2004 at 8:55 pm
My mother, sister, brother in law, and myself have been taking neurontin. My mother stopped and my sister died in April. They say they do not know why she died. I need to know more about this drug and what the signs are so a person will know that they are in trouble.
Tim // Aug 5, 2005 at 2:30 pm
What you people don’t know is that doctors typically use medications for off-label uses because there are no approved alternatives. If doctors only used medicines purely along the lines of their indications there would be a whole lot of very sick people out there with no hope.
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