Use of cholesterol-lowering drugs United States, 1992

More than 26 million prescriptions for cholesterol-lowering drugs were dispensed in the United States in 1992. These drugs represented 3.7 percent of the total pharmaceutical sales market, with retail costs exceeding $1.5 billion. Since 1988 both the number of doctor visits for disorders of lipid metabolism and the total number of prescriptions for cholesterol-lowering drugs have steadily increased. Mevacor and Lopid continue their market dominance of such drugs and accounted for almost 76 percent of the total number of 1992 cholesterol-reducing drug prescriptions dispensed. The rate of new prescriptions for cholesterol-lowering drugs was 65.1 per 1,000 population across the country; the highest rate was reported in the East North Central area and the lowest in the Pacific states. Among all specialists, general or primary care internists, family and general practice physicians and cardiologists were the most frequent prescribers of cholesterol-lowering drugs.