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Harvard Medical School
Medicare elimination of essential drugs will affect the elderly
November 4th, 2005
On Jan. 1, 2006, several categories of medications will be explicitly excluded from Medicare's new prescription drug benefit, including benzodiazepines, which are listed as an "essential medication" with the World Health Organization. Stephen Soumerai, professor of ambulatory care and prevention in the Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention (of Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care) published a paper that details the impact this removal will have on society. Currently, 24% of the elderly on Medicare, or 1.7 million people, will lose this coverage completely. The paper reports that negative effects are likely to take place,...
Source: Biotech Law Weekly (2005-11-04)
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