Are prescription costs raising your blood pressure?
According to the latest news and numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) they may well be. Figures, just released, show that insurers and consumers spent $52.2 billion on prescription drugs for outpatient treatment of metabolic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, high-cholesterol, obesity and thyroid disease.
The four remaining top therapeutic classes of outpatient prescription drugs were:
- Central Nervous System ($35 billion)
- i.e. chronic pain, epilepsy, Parkinson’s Disease
- Cardiovascular drugs ($29 billion)
- i.e. calcium channel blockers and diuretics
- Antacids, & other medicines for gastrointestinal conditions ($20 billion)
- Antidepressants, antipsychotics & other psychotherapeutic drugs ($20 billion)
In 2008, purchases of metabolic drugs by adults age 18 and older accounted for 22% of the total $233 billion spent to buy prescription drugs.
To put this number in perspective, $223 billion would buy you either 1,000 brand new 747 jumbo jets; 137 new space shuttles or 495 space shuttle missions!
