Metformin

(Best Syndication News) More expensive diabetes drugs may not equate to better outcomes, according to new research from California and Illinois. While the cost of prescription diabetes drugs rose from $6.7 billion in 2001 to $12.5 in 2007, there were no appreciable benefits.

The problem could lie in the Federal Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval process. New drugs are not compared against the alternatives; they are only compared against the placebo and must be proven to be safe. Just because a drug is new or exploits a new mechanism does not mean that it adds clinically to treating particular diseases," said Randall Stafford, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center and senior author of the study.

"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 of new therapies," Stafford added.

Once a drug falls from patent protection, the generic drugs make it to market. "It's important to recognize how expensive treatment for diabetes has become," Stafford said.

Stafford and his colleagues looked at data from the ongoing national survey of randomly selected physicians' prescriptions. The new drugs such as sitagliptin (brand name Januvia, $160 per prescription) and exenatide (Byetta, $210) cost eight to 11 times more than older, generic drugs such as metformin or glipizide.

Patients are more likely to be prescribed multiple drugs now compare to previous decades. Back in 1994, 82 percent of patients were prescribed only one drug; in 2007, only 47 percent were.

Long term studies need to be done to determine efficacy. “This near-doubling of diabetes costs may partly reflect better care, but we need to step back and examine the value of newer and more costly medications that may be overused," Stafford said.

By Marsha Quinn
Best Syndication News Health Writer

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