Does expenditure on pharmaceuticals give good value for money?: current evidence and policy implications

Drugs are becoming a particular target for health care cost containment measures, as part of the increasing pressure to improve the value for money from the use of health care resources. This has led to an exponential growth in the number of economic evaluations of pharmaceuticals, many of which have been funded by pharmaceutical companies. A review of the existing literature on economic evaluation of pharmaceuticals was conducted in order to classify studies and to document their results. The review identified 85 evaluations, published between 1986 and 1991, that were suitable for analysis. In most published studies it was found that in the treatment or prevention of a disease, a drug intervention was more cost-effective than no intervention and, in a number of cases, drug interventions were at least as cost-effective as other forms of intervention. In evaluating the published evidence it is important to note that positive studies are more likely to be published and that the quality of study methods varies. However, the studies can be of use to policy makers with an interest in securing more value for money, although economic assessments should be applied equally to all health technologies.