Healthy Skepticism Library item: 8249
Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.
Publication type: news
Nainggolan L.
Cardiovascular Agents Top Adult and Elderly Drug Charts
Medscape 2007 Jan 31
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/551539
Full text:
January 31, 2007 (Rockville, MD) – Cardiovascular drugs topped the five costliest classes of drugs prescribed for adults by doctors in the US in 2004. Spending on cardiovascular drugs alone was almost $32 billion, and when antihyperlipidemic agents were added in, the bill totaled more than $50 billion.
These figures come from the latest Medical Expenditure Panel Survey from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [1].
Separate statistics for Medicare beneficiaries age 65 and older, for the same year, show that cardiovascular drugs topped the bill for these individuals, too—annual expenditure was $16.7 billion, and a further $10.4 billion was spent on antihyperlipidemic agents for this population [2].
Cholesterol-lowering drugs the most expensive
For adults, the spending breakdown was $31.7 billion on cardiovascular drugs and $21.5 billion on antihyperlipidemic agents. Cardiovascular agents accounted for 17.5% of total prescription drug expenses by adults.
Antihyperlipidemic agents had the highest average expense per prescription for adults, at $100.44, and this figure was more than double the average expense of the therapeutic class with the lowest average expense, cardiovascular drugs ($47.55).
The other three top classes of drugs for adults were: hormones ($24.5 billion), central nervous system (CNS) agents ($23.7 billion), and psychotherapeutic agents ($17.9 billion).
Nearly 75% of Medicare beneficiaries with a prescription drug expense had a cardiovascular agent expense, which was a higher percentage than any of the other top five therapeutic classes of drug.
As well as antihyperlipidemic agents, which were the second highest expenditure for those 65 and older, the remaining three therapeutic classes of the top five were hormones ($8.1 billion), CNS agents ($6.8 billion), and gastrointestinal agents ($5.6 billion).
Stagnitti, MN. The top five therapeutic classes of outpatient prescription drugs ranked by total expense for adults age 18 and older in the US civilian noninstitutionalized population, 2004. Statistical Brief #154. December 2006. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Available at: http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_files/publications/st154/stat154.pdf.
Stagnitti, MN. The top five therapeutic classes of outpatient prescription drugs ranked by total expense for the Medicare population age 65 and older in the US civilian noninstitutionalized population, 2004. Statistical Brief #153. December 2006. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Available at: http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_files/publications/st153/stat153.pdf
The complete contents of Heartwire, a professional news service of WebMD, can be found at www.theheart.org, a Web site for cardiovascular healthcare professionals.
