The delisting of solutions based on hyaluronic acid had been announced in the Official Journal of March 28, 2017. The service provided by these drugs in the treatment of osteoarthritis had been deemed insufficient by the National Commission for the Evaluation of Medical Devices and health technologies (CNEDiMTS). As of December 1, all treatments based on injectable hyaluronic acid prescribed for knee osteoarthritis will therefore no longer be reimbursed.
A decision contested by the French Association for the Fight against Rheumatism (AFLAR) and the French College of Rheumatologists, who are concerned about the repercussions of such a decision on patients suffering from osteoarthritis.
Encourage patients to opt for dental prostheses
Hyaluronic acid is one of the constituents of synovial fluid, the joint fluid in which the cartilage of the joints bathes. In a joint suffering from osteoarthritis, hyaluronic acid is degraded, which leads to a reduction in lubricating and protective properties. Hyaluronic acid injections are then prescribed to relieve pain and prevent osteoarthritis from worsening.
“The delisting of these injections will have two consequences: it will deprive the most disadvantaged patients of access to quality care and it will postpone prescriptions towards more iatrogenic treatments, more costly for health insurance and no more efficient and accelerate the recourse of patients to prosthetic surgery, which is not always a panacea, which is very expensive, and not devoid of dangers” emphasize Aflar and CFMR in a joint press release.
Both are therefore asking the Minister of Health to re-examine the file on the effectiveness of these treatments.
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