Analysis of lawsuits for access to treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis in the State of São Paulo, Brazil - PSAR

Abstract

Biological are an example of highly specific medications which have had great impact on costs for the public health system of the State of São Paulo in the last few years. This project aims to evaluate the utilization of biological obtained through lawsuits against the State of São Paulo for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, from January 2003 to December 2008. The relevance of indication and of factors related to adequate therapy will be considered. Patient reports on evolution of symptoms and of adverse events will also be collected for further investigation. Lawsuits will be identified by means of the type of medicine used for both arthritis and psoriasis and legal data will be obtained from the official information systems of the State of São Paulo (SCJ). Additional sources of data will be the websites of the Brazilian Health System and the Lilacs, PubMed, MedLine, and Cochrane databases. After data collection and analysis, indicators for assessment of lawsuits will be developed. Expected results of this work should permit: an in-depth analysis of how biological are being granted to patients in regard to their indications, adherence of prescribers to clinical guidelines and recognition by the legal system of their importance when granting patients access to these costly and highly specific medicines. (AU)