Letter to the Editor: Flawed cost-effectiveness model misrepresents costs and benefits for new cholesterol drugs

The August 17 article “ PCSK9 inhibitors are not cost-effective, concludes JAMA article,” highlights a cost-effectiveness model published in JAMA that threatens to make it even more difficult for patients with high cholesterol to access new medicines called PCSK9 inhibitors.

Statins work extremely well for most patients with high cholesterol. Currently, PCSK9 inhibitors are intended for high-risk patients who have already had a cardiovascular event and those with genetic pre-dispositions to very high cholesterol who are already on an optimal statin dose and cannot reach their desired LDL goals.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one killer in the USA, responsible for one death every 40 seconds and $600 billion in costs each year. Driving down the cost of CVD complications is imperative, and innovative therapeutics like PCSK9 inhibitors are our best hope. Unfortunately, nearly a year after US Food and Drug Administration approval, approximately two-thirds of patients prescribed a PCSK9 inhibitor continue to struggle to get these medicines from their insurer.