Are Your Patients Filling Their Clopidogrel Prescriptions?

A large observational study substantiates the risks of delayed adherence after hospital discharge in drug-eluting stent recipients.

Clopidogrel treatment is essential to preventing stent thrombosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, patterns of prescription filling and the effect of nonadherence on outcomes have not been well studied. These investigators assessed delays in filling clopidogrel prescriptions and outcomes in more than 7000 patients enrolled in three large integrated healthcare systems who underwent drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation from 2004 through 2007.

Nearly one in five patients did not fill their clopidogrel prescriptions immediately after hospital discharge. During a median of 22 months of follow-up, 14.2% of patients who delayed filling their prescriptions (median delay, 3 days) had myocardial infarction (MI) or died, compar…

Reviewing Author

JoAnne M. Foody, MD

Disclosures

Consultant / Advisory boardAegerion; Amarin; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Janssen; Merck; Pfizer; Sanofi-Aventis; Boehringer Ingelheim

Leadership positions in professional societiesAmerican College of Cardiology, Cardiosmart (Co-chair)

JoAnne M. Foody, MD

Disclosures

Consultant / Advisory boardAegerion; Amarin; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Janssen; Merck; Pfizer; Sanofi-Aventis; Boehringer Ingelheim

Leadership positions in professional societiesAmerican College of Cardiology, Cardiosmart (Co-chair)