Diabetes Drug Spending Rising Fast

Americans are spending twice as much on diabetes drugs as they did just six years ago, a new study finds. Costs rose to $12.5 billion in 2007. There were two reasons for the change. More people were treated, and doctors often prescribed costly new drugs for them. But another new study found that an old, low-cost drug may be better. The study found that metformin helped to prevent heart disease. A newer drug, Avandia, did not. The Associated Press wrote about the studies October 28. Both were in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.