Utilization of drugs with reports on potential efficacy or harm on COVID-19 before, during, and after the first pandemic wave.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Conflicting information on potential benefits of drugs as well as reports on hypothetical harm of commonly used drugs in COVID-19 treatment have challenged clinicians and healthcare systems. We analyzed the change in ambulatory drug utilization before, during, and after the first wave of the pandemic in 2020.

Methods

We explored dispensing data of nearly 19 000 pharmacies at the expense of the statutory health insurance funds covering 88% of Germany's population. We analyzed utilization of publicly discussed drugs with conflicting information. Drug utilization as number of packages dispensed per week from January to June 2020, reflecting 314 million claims, was compared with 2019.

Results

Utilization of hydroxychloroquine increased +110% during March 2020 and

SUBMITTER: Enners S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8441787 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature