Less sick leave with Avonex
Results from an analysis assessing the differences in health benefits costs (HBCs) and lost time among employees suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS) being treated with injectable disease modifying therapies (DMTs) were presented and announced by Biogen Idec as poster presentations at the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Center (CMSC) annual meeting.
The HBC portion of the study data involved a total of 311 employees and showed that among the four DMTs: 1) AVONEX patients reported low total sick leave (SL) and short-term disability (STD) costs; 2) Copaxone patients had significantly higher SL ($969 vs. $523) (P<0.05) and STD ($1056 vs. $87) (P<0.05) costs than AVONEX
The absentee portion of the study data involved a total of 273 employees and showed that among the four DMTs: AVONEX patients reported 42 percent less sick leave than Copaxone (2.98 days/year vs. 7.18 days/year; P≤0.01)
I know I hardly ever got colds when I was on interferon, and got them all the time when I stopped.
Hmmm, having been on avonex
Hmmm, having been on avonex for 6 years, I know I experienced such horrible side effects after injections that I was completely useless for at least 2 days per week. As a full time employee, I would time my injections to minimize sick time. That means I would be "sick" from the injection on the weekends. Not a very fun way to live. My sick weekends were not counted as sick time from work. I think this study may be skewing the facts. Although I no longer can work, copaxone has never kept me from doing anything.