Improving the Cost Effectiveness of Lipid Lowering Therapy in Coronary Heart Disease Prevention

Despite concerted clinical and public health efforts [1] to improve coronary heart disease (CHD), cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the number one killer in Western industrialized societies. More than $158 billion in the United States alone is spent on the prevention and treatment of CVD and it continues to impose a formidable burden on both the U.S. and European health-care systems. By one U.S. estimate [2] direct medical expenses in 1997 will approach $47.5 billion for CHD, $26.2 billion for stroke, and $21.8 billion for hypertension. Most of the direct medical expenses are from the costs of hospitalization and revascularization procedures.