Introduction: Gastrointestinal (GI) complications are common following renal transplantation. Discontinuing or reducing the dosage of mycophenolate mofetil can improve GI tolerability but adversely affect graft outcomes. This analysis was undertaken to assess the 3-year economic and clinical...

A number of articles have reported that the uninsured and Medicaid populations have higher rates of mortality and morbidity than the privately insured. This study adds to the literature by applying Braveman's distinction between traditional commercial and PPO plans and private HMOs and PHPs to...

Objective: To evaluate the economic implications for transplant centres, Medicare and society of treatment of corticosteroid-resistant Banff Grades I, II and III acute kidney transplant rejection with the antithymocyte globulins Thymoglobulin(R) or Atgam(R). Design and setting: This was a cost...

Objective: This model introduces a unique and inexpensive technique to estimate profit increases that might be expected from: (i) an additional clinical trial to establish a drug's second clinical indication; and (ii) a survey of market demand. Design: Microsoft Excel_ spreadsheets are used to...

This paper employs classical concepts of diminishing marginal utility to demonstrate that risk-aversion can increase the perceived value of diagnostic procedures and thus raise optimum diagnostic expenditures. The theory is applied to a model in the spirit of Phelps and Mushlin's initial...