The impact of the antidiabetic oral drugs cost on health expenditure in diabetic care in México

Abstract

Introduction: There is an urgent need to evaluate the factors contributing to the increased health expenditures in patients with diabetes mellitus, especially the cost of drugs used to treat Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in economically developing countries. Methods: We compared the cost of oral antidiabetic drugs using the prices of two large Mexican pharmaceutical retail corporations. The prescribed daily dose was utilized for each drug, and the total expenditure per year was calculated. In addition, the percentage expenditure on medications concerning the total annual expenditure on DM care was considered. Results: Mean annual cost per person/year for the use of oral antidiabetic drugs ranged between US$8.9 and US$1355. We found significant differences between the cost of generic and brand versions of the same drug. Conclusion: There is an increased expenditure on the treatment of T2DM. Further, the prescription patterns as newer ones are more expensive than the older drugs, hence the newer are still under patent.