Patients treated with the film formulation of buprenorphine/naloxone appeared to stay longer on treatment, have a lower probability of hospital admission, and lower health care costs compared to patients treated with the tablet. This study, based on insurance claims data, has the advantage of reflecting real-world practice, but one cannot rule out the existence of bias due to differences in patient or prescriber profiles, despite adjustments made for observed characteristics at treatment initiation.

Treatment with higher doses of buprenorphine/naloxone was associated with a longer time to treatment discontinuation, less resource use, and lower total medical costs despite higher pharmacy acquisition cost.

While using the sublingual film formulation for more patients treated with buprenorphine/naloxone is predicted to increase outpatient care costs, it would generate savings in emergency care and hospitalizations. In the treatment of opioid dependence, total direct medical costs for Medicaid would be lower for sublingual film treated patients, at current drug prices.

No abstract

are employees of ZRx Outcomes Research Inc. (institution founded by Endo Pharmaceuticals to conduct the present analysis), and have received grants from Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc" should read "Vladimir Zah, Djurdja Vukicevic, and Martina Imro are employees of ZRx Outcomes Research Inc. (institution funded by Endo Pharmaceuticals to conduct the present analysis), and have received grants from Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc".