The NHS is spending too much on diabetes drugs say researchers, who found the medicines account for 7% of the UK prescribing budget.
A big rise in the number of people with type 2 diabetes in recent years does not fully explain the spiralling costs, say Cardiff University researchers. With rates of the condition expected to rise further, the NHS needs to get the budget under control, they conclude.
In 2008 the NHS spent £700m on drugs to control blood sugar, figures show.
The researchers calculated that between 2000 and 2008 the number of prescriptions for glucose-lowering drugs had risen by 50%. But costs, even taking into account the price of inflation, rose by 104%, they said.
Writing in the journal Diabetic Medicine, they said figures for England specifically show an increase from £290m to £591m over the study period.
Read more at BBC Health.
Tags: Diabetes
