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In 2007, elderly Medicare beneficiaries spent nearly $19 billion on cholesterol and diabetes prescription drugs. That's about one-quarter of the approximately $82 billion spent on all medications for the elderly, says a U.S. government analysis released Wednesday.
Cholesterol and diabetes medications are metabolic drugs. The other four drug classes most often purchased by elderly Americans in 2007 were:
Cardiovascular drugs, including blood pressure medicines, diruetics and drugs to control abnormal heart rhythms ($15 billion).