No Need for More Regulation: Payors and Their Role in Balancing the Cost and Safety Considerations of Off-Label Prescriptions

Abstract

In 2009, health care expenditures in the United States totaled $2.5 trillion and accounted for almost eighteen percent of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Rising health care costs are an increasing concern in the national health care industry and in government policy reform. When estimates show that thirty percent of health care is unnecessary, improving quality and efficiency of health care could eliminate a significant amount of excessive spending.Prescription drugs contributed to ten percent of national health expenditures in 2009, comprising about $250 billion. And while the rate of growth for overall health care spending declined as a result of the recent recession, “the number of prescription drugs dispensed rebounded to prerecession rate of growth.” Estimates show that off-label drug use comprises between twenty and sixty percent of U.S. prescriptions. This could be a troubling percentage considering that off-label use carries an increased risk of harm or ineffectiveness.