Cost of diabetes drugs doubles
The cost of diabetes treatment in the US almost doubled from 2001to 2006
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Tuesday, 28, Oct 2008 02:01
The annual cost of diabetes drugs almost doubled between 2001 and 2006, a new study has found.
Research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine today shows that the cost of drugs rose from $6.7 billion (£4.28 billion) to $12.5 billion (£7.99 billion).
The authors of the report claim that one-tenth of all healthcare expenditures in the United States in 2002 were attributed to diabetes.
"Although more patients and more medications per patient played a role, the single greatest contributor to increasing costs is the use of newer, more expensive medications," lead author Caleb Alexander, from University of Chicago, said.
"But new drugs don't automatically lead to better outcomes."
Co-author Randall Stafford, associate professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, added: "Just because a drug is new or exploits a new mechanism does not mean that it adds clinically to treating particular diseases.
"And even if a new drug does have a benefit, it's important to consider whether that benefit is in proportion to the increased cost."
Researchers also found that the number of Americans diagnosed with diabetes rose steadily from ten million in 1994, to 14 million in 2000, to 19 million in 2007.
This rapid growth reflects trends in American eating habits and behaviour, the authors claim, since the risk of developing type 2 diabetes increases with age, obesity, and physical inactivity.
"Part of the increase is due to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle and increasing caloric intake," Mr Stafford said.
The average number of medications per patient in the US increased from 1.06 medications per patient in 1994 to 1.45 medications per patient in 2007.
Meanwhile, the average price of a diabetes drug prescription increased from $56 (£35.85) in 2001 to $76 (£48.66) in 2007, due in large part to the rapid uptake of newly available oral medications, increasingly prescribed as alternatives to injectable insulin.