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JointHealth™ express   March 23, 2018

Call for patient input on tapentadol hydrochloride (Nucynta) for the management of severe pain

Do you have severe pain? We need your valuable input.

The Common Drug Review (CDR) is currently welcoming patients and their caregivers to provide input to patient organizations on the manufacturer’s submission for tapentadol hydrochloride (Nucynta) for the management of pain severe enough to require daily, continuous, long-term opioid treatment, and:
  • that is opioid-responsive; and
  • for which alternative treatment options are inadequate.
The CDR is part of the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH). The CDR conducts objective, rigorous reviews of the clinical and cost-effectiveness of drugs, and provides formulary listing recommendations to the publicly funded drug plans in Canada (except Quebec).

To help them make their recommendations, the CDR accepts input from patient organizations and groups, like Arthritis Consumer Experts (ACE). Because patient input is vitally important to government decision-making about medications, we would like to gather your views and share them with the CDR.

These are the questions they are asking:
  1. How does severe pain impact the patients' day-to-day life and quality of life? For example, what aspects of pain are more important to control, and are there any activities that the patient is not able to do as a result of severe pain?
  2. How well are patients managing severe pain with currently available treatments? Examples of the types of information to be included in the answer are:
    • What therapy are patients using to manage severe pain?
    • How effective are current treatments in controlling the common aspects of severe pain?
    • Are there needs, experienced by some or many patients, which are not being met by the current treatments? What are these needs?
    • Do current treatments have adverse effects that are more difficult to tolerate than others? What are they?
    • Do patients have difficulty accessing current treatments because of costs, such as costs related to travel and drug administration costs?
  3. How does severe pain impact the patients’ caregivers?
    • What challenges do family and friends who support a patient to manage severe pain face?
    • What impact does the treatment have on the caregiver’s daily life, such as emotional/psychological effects, fatigue, stress, and physical challenges?
  4. What are patients’ expectations for tapentadol hydrochloride?
    • What are the perceived advantages or disadvantages?
    • What are the aspects of the patients’ severe pain that it is hoped will be addressed?
    • How might daily life and quality of life for patients, caregivers, and families be different if the new treatment provided desired improvements?
    • What trade-offs do patients, families and caregivers consider when choosing a therapy?
  5. Has the patient tried tapentadol hydrochloride to manage severe pain?
    • What were the benefits or disadvantages of tapentadol hydrochloride?
    • How did the benefits or disadvantages impact the lives of patients, caregivers, and families?
    • Did the patient experience any side effects and were they tolerated? How were the side effects managed?
    • Was the drug easier to use than previous therapies? How so?
If you live with or care for someone with severe pain and who meets the criteria stated at the beginning of this notice, please send us your input by Friday, May 4, 2018, so that we may make a submission by the May 8th deadline. Your input will be anonymous.

Please contact us at feedback@jointhealth.org to provide your input or arrange for a phone interview at 604-974-1366.