Mr Andrew Brown’s disease progression can be
divided into three stages. The first stage, during which time his
symptoms were
well controlled, lasted three years. He enjoyed a good quality of life
throughout this period and the yearly costs were Euro 284/ GBP 227, of
which
one third was spent on medication.
At the start of the second phase ‘wearing
off’ began. Mr Brown’s medication was adjusted and this helped for a
time but
the benefits were short-lived; symptoms worsened and his quality of life
suffered. He spent half his working life during this time on sick leave
and
medical costs increased twenty-fold. Together with paying for
healthcare, costs
incurred during this period were approximately Euro 24,305/GBP 19,444
per
annum.
The third stage began when apomorphine was
introduced and Mr Brown’s quality of life started to improve. He
returned to work full-time and, with the
exception of the first year of this period when costs were estimated at a
little over Euro 13,890/GBP 11,000, he required no more hospital stays
for
treatment adjustments. In the following
years, he functioned well with the treatment combination of apomorphine
pen and
oral medication. Yearly costs, which were now almost entirely medical,
fell to
Euro 10,321/GBP 8,256.
(This report is based on a real life patient’s case
history, with some details being modified.)
