Table 3.
Changes in median (interquartile range) net ingredient costs (£) per 1000 patients between financial years 1994-5 and 1995-6 for selected groups of drugs and preparations* from chapters 1-6, 8, and 10 of British National Formulary for 54 practices according to increase in prescribing costs
| Lowest increase | Average increase | Greatest increase | Kruskal-Wallis test
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| χ2 (df=2) | P value | |||||
| Potential saving available if brand named preparations had been prescribed instead of generic equivalents† | −194 (498) | −85 (285) | −11 (266) | 20.86 | <0.001 | |
| Modified release drugs | −12 (435) | 185 (480) | 528 (459) | 42.92 | <0.001 | |
| Combination products | −96 (370) | 41 (383) | 280 (546) | 27.67 | <0.001 | |
| Drugs of limited therapeutic value | −45 (117) | −24 (68) | −17 (70) | 4.75 | 0.093 | |
| Drugs that could have been bought over counter | −84 (204) | −16 (230) | 116 (231) | 27.42 | <0.001 | |
| Topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory | −6 (144) | 45 (91) | 63 (194) | 9.31 | 0.010 | |
| Overall change in costs for “new and expensive drugs” | 1315 (1484) | 2627 (1373) | 3856 (1847) | 77.08 | <0.001 | |
| Specific “new and expensive” drug groups: | ||||||
| Proton pump inhibitors | 341 (657) | 1119 (1042) | 1695 (1061) | 70.87 | <0.001 | |
| Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors | 300 (538) | 576 (640) | 884 (826) | 24.95 | <0.001 | |
| Lipid lowering drugs | 142 (248) | 240 (232) | 252 (356) | 8.88 | 0.012 | |
| Oestrogens and hormone replacement | 152 (241) | 247 (305) | 211 (271) | 9.96 | 0.007 | |
| Long acting β2 stimulants, fluticasone preparations, and sumatriptan | 191 (498) | 352 (553) | 463 (915) | 9.04 | 0.011 | |
| Expensive hospital-initiated drugs | −87 (777) | −28 (624) | 132 (646) | 9.53 | 0.009 | |
*
Details in Appendix.
†
Negative value implies that practices reduced their costs for brand named products that could have been prescribed generically.