The cost and number of drugs prescribed to treat diabetes in England has risen by more than 40 percent in the last five years, according to a new National Health Service (NHS) report released today.
According to Diabetes UK the NHS Information Centre has found that just over 35.5 million prescription items were dispensed in primary care units across England in 2009/10 at a cost of nearly £650 million. This is in comparison to 24.8 million items in 2004/5 at a cost of £458.6 million.
This large rise in diabetes drug prescriptions and costs is attributed equally to the increase in people with diabetes and the wider prescribing of newer and more expensive therapies.
