The cost of prescription medication used to treat aging-related conditions has been steadily increasing over the past five years and could overtake spending on some chronic conditions, according to research from pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts.
The study finds that, in 2011, spending on medications for conditions once considered a normal part of aging – mental alertness, sexual dysfunction, menopause, aging skin and hair loss – ranked third in annual prescription drug costs of the commercially insured, surpassed only by the cost of treating diabetes and high cholesterol.
