Letter

“Polypill” to fight cardiovascular disease: Cost effectiveness of statins for primary prevention of cardiovascular events is questionable

BMJ 2003; 327 doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7418.808-c (Published 2 October 2003)
Cite this as: BMJ 2003;327:808.4

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  1. Andrea Messori (andreamessori@interfree.it), coordinator,
  2. Benedetta Santarlasci, researcher,
  3. Sabrina Trippoli, researcher,
  4. Monica Vaiani, researcher
  1. Laboratorio di Farmacoeconomia, c/o Pharmaceutical Service, Careggi Hospital, Viale Morgagni 85, I-50134 Florence, Italy

    EDITOR—The presence of a statin in the “Polypill” implies a favourable cost effectiveness of the anticholesterol agent for primary prevention.1 2 Medline reports 18 original studies (from 1995 to June 2003) evaluating the cost effectiveness of statins for this indication (8 independent, 10 sponsored3).

    In the eight independent reports, the interstudy variations in the cost per life year gained are extremely wide ($C7700 to $US420 000 in men), …

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