Annals of internal medicine
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Comparative Study
Brand-name prescription drug use among Veterans Affairs and Medicare Part D patients with diabetes: a national cohort comparison.
Medicare Part D and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) use different approaches to manage prescription drug benefits, with implications for spending. Medicare relies on private plans with distinct formularies, whereas the VA administers its own benefit using a national formulary. ⋯ Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes use 2 to 3 times more brand-name drugs than a comparable group within the VA, at substantial excess cost.
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Recent evidence suggests that daily aspirin use decreases cancer risk, particularly for colorectal cancer, but evidence for alternate-day use is scant. ⋯ Long-term use of alternate-day, low-dose aspirin may reduce risk for colorectal cancer in healthy women.