Metabolic drugs -- namely cholesterol and diabetes meds -- account for the greatest Medicare prescription expenses, researchers say.
The drugs cost Medicare $18.6 billion in 2007, the latest year for which figures were available.
That's about a quarter (23%) of the nearly $82 billion spent on medications for the elderly, Anita Soni, PhD, of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reported in a statistical brief.
The top five drug categories -- of 17 broad therapeutic areas -- totaled spending in excess of $54 billion, or about 66% of total medication expenditures for Medicare beneficiaries.
The four other drug classes were:
* Cardiovascular drugs: $15 billion
* Central nervous system drugs: $8 billion
* Gastrointestinal drugs: $7 billion
* Hormones: $5 billion
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