Epilepsy Drug Prices Have Increased by 277% in the Past Decade

In one decade, brand-name epilepsy drug prices have increased by 277%, according to a recent press release by the American Academy of Neurology. This review looked at data from Medicare patients between 2008 and 2018.  

While brand-name epilepsy medication costs more than doubled, generic drug costs decreased by 42%.  

The press release stated that brand-name drugs accounted for approximately 14% of all epilepsy pills for Medicare patients in the 10 year time frame. That number is juxtaposed with the 79% that these medications contribute to drug costs.  

It is no secret that prescription drug costs have skyrocketed in recent years. In fact, between 2019 and 2020, a large chunk of Medicare-covered drugs saw an average price increase of over 7%.  

“Previous studies have shown that drugs are the most expensive part of neurologic care, and antiseizure drugs were the second-highest category of costs among drugs prescribed by neurologists,” stated study author Samuel Waller Terman, MD, MS, of the University of Michigan, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology in the press release.  

A review earlier this year determined that epilepsy treatment had a global cost of $119.27 billion. Per person, prices ranged from $204 to $11,432 annually and heavily depended on the treatment location.  

High-income countries saw steeper costs of care compared to lower-income countries. That could be due to the lack of access to care and the number of epilepsy patients that forgo care in lower-income countries. 

According to the WHO, there is already a “treatment gap” in these countries. There is limited access to medication. Approximately three-quarters of patients with epilepsy in low-to-middle-income countries do not have access to the proper medicines. As medication costs continue to increase, the “treatment gap” may widen further.  

With epilepsy affecting 50 million people globally and being the most common neurological disorder, these price increases have had and will continue to have a massive impact on patients worldwide. Moreover, epilepsy has an increased prevalence in low- and middle-income countries.  

Due to cost, new and advanced treatment options such as vagus nerve stimulation are already inaccessible to some populations. If drug prices continue to rise, barriers to care may be exacerbated.  

Physicians may opt for generic drug prescriptions after this study notes that their cost has decreased.  

“While newer generation drugs have potential advantages such as limited drug interactions and different side effect profiles, there have been conflicting studies on whether they are cost-effective,” stated Samuel Waller Terman, MD, MS, in the press release.