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Some Seniors Could Save $1,300 a Year by Taking
Effective, Lower-Cost Cholesterol Drug - Lovastatin
Lovastatin and Lipitor are
Chosen Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs
Dec. 10, 2004
Millions of senior citizens and other consumers who take or need statins to moderately lower
their cholesterol could save up to $3.50 a day by considering the only
generic version available lovastatin, the Consumer Reports Best Buy
Drugs project has found.
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Consumer Reports Launches Public Education Campaign
to Help Consumers Save on Medicines
Best Buy Drugs kicks off by comparing price,
effectiveness in three drug categories
Dec. 10, 2004 - Consumers Union, publisher of
Consumer Reports magazine, yesterday launched an educational and
outreach initiative and free website,
www.CRBestBuyDrugs.org, that will compare a variety of
prescription drugs on price, effectiveness and safety to help consumers
and their doctors identify the most effective and affordable medicines.
More... 12/10/04
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A Consumers Union
comparison of statin drugs indicates that lovastatin while not the
most potent is just as effective and safe for most people who need to
lower their LDL (or bad cholesterol) by less than 40 percent.
Generic lovastatin costs
between 92 cents and $1.31 a day on average for daily doses of 10 mg and
20 mg, respectively. In contrast, comparable doses of other statins
such as Lipitor, Pravachol, Zocor, Crestor, and Lescol cost between
$2.66 and $4.86 a day on average.
However, the analysis
chose Lipitor (atorvastatin) at a dose of 20 mg or 40 mg daily as the
Best Buy Drug for people who need to reduce their LDL by 40 percent
or more. Lipitor at a dose of 40 mg or 80 mg was also the Best Buy
Drug for those who have had a heart attack and need to keep their
LDL cholesterol as low as possible.
Cholesterol-lowering
drugs are among the more heavily advertised medicines today, said Gail
Shearer, director of health policy analysis for Consumers Union,
publisher of Consumer Reports.
That can confuse
consumers trying to find the most effective and affordable medicine.
We urge people to learn
their cholesterol level, and take our report to their doctors to start a
discussion if they have been advised to take medication, she added.
The report also found
that most statin pills can be safely split in half for additional
savings. For example, consumers who take 20 mg a day could save $58.50 a
month by splitting the 40 mg dose of Lipitor in half.
Consumer Reports Best
Buy Drugs is an educational and
outreach initiative that will compare a variety of prescription drugs on
price, effectiveness and safety to help consumers and their doctors
identify the most effective and affordable medicines. Consumers can
download reports from the free website,
www.CRBestBuyDrugs.org,
of the first three drug categories reviewed: cholesterol-lowering
statins, heartburn and acid reflux treatments, and non-steroidal anti-
inflammatory drugs. Each month, CRBestBuyDrugs.org will feature a
report on another drug category.
Consumer Reports Best
Buy Drugs combines evidence-based
research on the comparative effectiveness and safety of prescription
drugs with national-level data on drug prices. The information on drug
effectiveness is derived from the Drug Effectiveness Review Project (DERP),
a 12-state initiative. Price information is based on average retail
prices paid in cash by consumers at the pharmacy. The CU reports are
peer-reviewed by medical experts in the particular drug category.
See the tables below for
more details on the statin findings.
(1) Generic indicates drug
sold by generic name, lovastatin.
(2) Prices reflect nationwide
retail average for September 2004, rounded to nearest dollar; data
provided by NDCHealth, a healthcare information company.
(3) Combination of nonfatal
heart attack plus deaths attributed to heart disease.
(4) Lovastatin has not been proven to reduce deaths, but
the evidence strongly points in that direction.
(5) Altoprev has replaced Altocor for new prescriptions;
they are the same medicine.
(6) Based on the results for shorter-acting versions of
the drugs.
(1) Generic indicates drug
sold by generic name, lovastatin
(2) Prices reflect nationwide
retail average for September 2004, rounded to nearest dollar; data
provided by NDCHealth, a healthcare information company
(3) Combination of nonfatal
heart attack plus deaths attributed to heart disease
(4) Requires taking two 40 mg
tablets.
(5) Lovastatin has not been
proven to reduce deaths, but the evidence strongly points in that
direction
(6) Altoprev has replaced
Altocor; they are the same medicine.
(7) Based on the results for
shorter-acting versions of the drug.
Consumer Reports Best
Buy Drugs is funded in part with a
major grant from the Engelberg Foundation, a charitable trust that
supports a wide range of activities in the fields of health care,
science and education. The project is also partially funded through a
grant from the National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes
of Health.
Consumers
Union, the publisher of Consumer Reportsฎ, is an expert, independent
nonprofit organization whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and
safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect
themselves. To achieve this mission, we test, inform, and protect. To
maintain our independence and impartiality, CU accepts no outside
advertising, no free test samples, and has no agenda other than the
interests of consumers. CU supports itself through the sale of our
information products and services, individual contributions, and a few
noncommercial grants.
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