Medicaid drug-event data: an emerging tool for evaluation of drug risk

Post-marketing surveillance (PMS) of drugs requires access to multiple data resources covering the spectrum of drug exposures and drug-associated events. In the U.S., the Federal/State third party payment system for medical care to welfare recipients, Medicaid, maintains drug-event data by date of service. The FDA has explored this data for drug utilization studies, generation of signals of drug risk, and strengthening of hypotheses of drug associated problems. Thus far, studies suggest the data from Michigan and Minnesota, covering 1.5 million patients for 18 months, can be a useful, multifunctional tool for PMS studies. Examples of use to date are presented.