11.01.03
The results of a new study released show that the daily use of a multivitamin by older adults could lead to more than $1.6 billion in Medicare savings over the next five years. The study, funded by Wyeth Consumer Healthcare, Madison, NJ, and conducted by The Lewin Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Quintiles Transnational, Falls Church, VA, was presented at “Multivitamins and Public Health: Exploring the Evidence,” a meeting which brought together leading experts from government agencies, top research universities and health advocacy organizations to examine the current science supporting daily multivitamin use and help chart the course for future research. The study, the first of its kind, included a systematic literature review of the most rigorous research available and examined the health effects of multivitamin use among adults over 65 years old. The researchers used an analysis of Medicare claims files and widely accepted Congressional Budget Office (CBO) cost accounting methods to determine the costs and potential savings, monetizing the potential preventive health benefits of multivitamin supplementation…over the five-year period from 2004-2008, the study results show potential savings from a reduction in hospitalizations for heart attacks, as well as from a reduction in hospitalizations, Medicare nursing home stays and home healthcare associated with infection.
—PRNewswire, 10/6/03
—PRNewswire, 10/6/03