FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Susan Herold: (202) 462-6262
Friday, April 29, 2005 Consumers Union
Proven lower-cost options could save consumer $1,200 a year or more
(Washington, D.C.) – Five of the 10 drugs in a class called ACE Inhibitors –used to treat people with high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes – have been chosen as
Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs , with potential annual savings of $1,200 a year over higher-priced medications.
The drugs, known as ACEIs, were the third most prescribed class of drugs in the United
States in 2004. They are effective, life-saving medicines with over 20 years of widespread safe use, and help lower the risk of both fatal and non-fatal heart attacks and strokes, and kidney failure. However, millions of Americans may not be taking these medications due to the high cost of some of them.
“The ACEIs are essential medicines,” said Gail Shearer, project director of Consumer
Reports Best Buy Drugs. “Unfortunately, not everyone who could benefit from an ACEI is taking one. By identifying the most cost-effective ACEIs, we aim to help people work with their doctors to choose the best medicine at an affordable price.”
Since December, the Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs project has released free consumer-friendly reports on six widely-used categories of prescription drugs. The grantfunded program is designed to help patients, with their doctors, find effective and affordable medicines. The reports are available at www.CRBestBuyDrugs.org.
All of the Best Buy ACEIs are relatively low-cost or moderately-priced medicines ($18 to
$65 a month) with superior track records of effectiveness and safety. The report shows consumers how they could save hundreds of dollars a year if they are currently taking a brand-name ACEI, and $1,200 or more a year if they have been prescribed or are taking one of the highest-priced ACEIs.
For example, the Best Buy ACEI generics cost half or less what most brand-name ACEIs cost. A person prescribed brand-name Vasotec (enalapril) 20mg once a day would save almost $400 a year if he or she switched to generic enalapril. A person prescribed brandname Capoten (captopril) 12.5mg three times a day would save $1,284 a year if he or she could be switched to generic lisinopril 30mg once a day.
ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) Inhibitors are prescribed for tens of millions of
Americans to treat high blood pressure and heart failure, to prevent repeat heart attacks and reverse thickening of the heart due to high blood pressure, and to prevent the decline
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of kidney function in people with high blood pressure and/or diabetes. In particular,
ACEIs have become a cornerstone of treatment for heart failure, a condition in which the heart muscle weakens, limiting its ability to pump blood.
High blood pressure and heart failure are under-treated conditions in the United States.
Only about 30 percent of people who have high blood pressure, for example, get the medicines, care and blood pressure control they need. In part, that’s because some of the needed medicines are expensive.
The five Best Buy ACEIs were chosen based primarily on evidence for their effectiveness but also on dosing convenience and cost in treating the following conditions. They are:
• For high blood pressure: benazepril, enalapril, and lisinopril
• For heart failure: enalapril, captopril
• After a heart attack: lisinopril
• For diabetics: ramipril (Altace)
• For people with kidney disease: benazepril, ramipril (Altace)
Four of these medicines are generics and one – ramipril (Altace) – is a moderately-priced brand-name drug that has been proven particularly effective in treating people who have diabetes and other heart disease risk factors.
The report notes that ACEIs should not be initial “first-step” treatment for most people with high blood pressure who do not have heart disease, diabetes, or kidney disease.
ACEIs are best used in combination with other blood pressure medicines.
The ACEIs join five other categories examined to date: cholesterol-lowering statins; heartburn and acid reflux drugs; anti-inflammatory pain relievers; antidepressants; and beta-blockers to treat high blood pressure and heart disease.
Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs is both an educational and outreach effort. Initiatives have been launched in Atlanta and Sacramento in the last two months to put Best Buy
Drug print reports into consumers’ hands and to test methods for reaching consumers who need information on prescription drug effectiveness and pricing.
The project combines evidence-based research on the comparative effectiveness and safety of prescription drugs with comprehensive nationwide 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. Every drug report is peer-reviewed by medical experts in the particular drug category.
See the cost comparison table on the following pages. To view or download the full 20page ACEI report, go to www.CRBestBuyDrugs.org.
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(*Bold indicates Best Buy Drugs)
Generic Name and Dose
Brand
Name 2
Frequency of Use
(per day)
Average
Monthly
Cost 3
Best Buy
Indication
Benazepril 10 mg
Benazepril 10 mg
Benazepril 20 mg
Benazepril 20 mg
Captopril 12.5 mg
Captopril 12.5 mg
Captopril 25mg
Captopril 25mg
Enalapril 5mg
Enalapril 5mg
Enalapril 10mg
Enalapril 10mg
Fosinopril 10mg
Fosinopril 10mg
Fosinopril 20mg
Fosinopril 20mg
Lisinopril 10mg
Lisinopril 10mg
Lotensin One $43 generic One $22 High
Blood
Pressure,
Kidney
Disease
Lotensin One $43 generic One $22 High
Blood
Pressure,
Capoten Three $133
Kidney
Disease generic Three $31 Heart
Failure
Capoten Three $131 generic Three
Vasotec One
$31 Heart
Failure
$39 generic One $18 High
Blood
Pressure,
Heart
Failure
Vasotec One $40 generic One $19 High
Blood
Pressure,
Heart
Monopril One $47
Failure generic One
Monopril One generic One
Prinivil One
Zestril One
$35
$47
$34
$38
$40
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Lisinopril 10mg
Lisinopril 20mg
Lisinopril 20mg
Lisinopril 20mg
Moexipril 7.5mg
Moexipril 7.5mg
Perindopril 2mg
Perindopril 4mg
Quinapril 10 mg
Quinapril 10 mg
Quinapril 20 mg
Quinapril 20 mg generic One $18 After
Prinivil One $41
Heart
Attack
Zestril One $44 generic One $20 After
Heart
Attack
Univasc One $46 generic One
Aceon One
Aceon One
Accupril One generic One
$30
$48
$56
$46
$38
Accupril One generic One
$46
$38
Ramipril 2.5mg
Ramipril 5mg
Altace
Altace
One
One
$50 Diabetes,
Kidney
Disease
$54 Diabetes,
Kidney
Disease
$42
$42
Trandolapril 1mg
Trandolapril 2mg
Mavik
Mavik
One
One
1. Selected doses only. For the complete list of ACEIs and their costs, go to www.CRBestBuyDrugs.org to access the full 21-page ACEI report.
2. “Generic” indicates that this drug is sold under its generic name. For example, in this table, the first drug listed is available as both generic benazepril and as brand-name Lotensin. Both have the same active ingredient. When column 2 says “generic,” the price listed is for the generic version at the specified dose.
3. Prices reflect nationwide retail average for January 2005, rounded top the nearest dollar; data provided by NDCHealth, a health care information company.
©Consumers Union 2005. The material above is intended for legitimate news entities only; it may not be used for commercial or promotional purposes. Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports®, 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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