Pharmacoeconomics of combination antihypertensive therapy

Antihypertensive treatment should provide optimal health benefits while min imizing treatment costs. Most patients require a combination of drugs to ac hieve blood pressure goals. Two studies have shown that switching to fixed- dose combination therapy is effective, well tolerated, and cost-effective f or most patients. A fixed-dose combination agent containing a diuretic and a beta -blocker, an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, or an angioten sin II receptor antagonist is generally more effective, better tolerated, a nd does not cost more than the non-diuretic component. Therefore, the assoc iated health-care resource costs of using these fixed-dose combination prod ucts should be less than those associated with the use of monotherapy. (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.