Hedonic Analysis of Arthritis Drugs

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Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a painful, debilitating, and progressive disease which affects millions of people worldwide. Two principal classes of drugs are used to treat RA: nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. This chapter examines the market for a group of drugs used to treat RA during the period 1980–1992. Unlike some previous work on the hedonics of pharmaceutical products, it pays little attention to differences in the dosage regimen. The chapter begins with a brief review of the nature of RA and its treatment. It then discusses issues related to the measurement of the relative efficacy and toxicity of drug treatments for RA. Next, it presents economic data on the market for a specific set of drugs used in the treatment of severe RA and considers them in the context of models of demand for differentiated products. Finally, the chapter suggests alternative approaches that may provide some additional insight, in particular analysis of the role of advertising and promotional expenditures. Primary measures of efficacy and toxicity are computed from the reported results of published clinical trials.

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