Opinion: Discarded drugs: a wasteful and costly problem that requires whole-of-government approaches
Controlling the rising costs of pharmaceuticals, particularly those administered by physicians, has been a top health care priority for policymakers, with recent actions in both Congress and the executive branch. Reducing the waste from discarded drugs is a piece of the broader approach to drug affordability.
Since 2006, physician-administered drugs in Medicare Part B spending has grown each year at an estimated 8.1% per enrollee, twice as rapidly as outpatient drugs in Medicare Part D and nearly three times the spending rate for the nation overall. In addition to the growing costs, a significant volume of infused or injected drugs, largely for complex diseases such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis, are discarded due to variable dosing and their distribution in single-use vials.
