The cost of different choices for the treatment of hypertension

As attempts are accelerated to curtail the costs of health care, the costs of different antihypertensive drugs are increasingly being scrutinised, often by cost-effectiveness analyses. Such analyses are invalid for all antihypertensives except diuretics and β-blockers, as these two classes are the only ones that have been tested and found to have an impact on morbidity and mortality. Because the simple cost of the daily doses of tablets is also an inappropriate means of comparison, we are left with the need to reduce costs, to which end there are two possible steps: limit the use of drugs to those in need; and utilise drugs that improve other concomitant conditions. Meanwhile, in our zeal to reduce costs, it is vital to preserve the financial health of pharmaceutical companies so that they can continue to develop newer and better drugs.