Managing the cost of cardiovascular prevention in primary care.

Prescribing costs for the prevention of cardiovascular disease are rising nationally, particularly in relation to implementation of the National Service Framework for coronary heart disease. Prescribing effective treatment that is going to benefit the patient's overall management--evidence based medicine--is the key to funding drugs for cardiovascular prevention. It is clear that there is a lot of waste within the system. If the current waste in prescribing can be reduced, it should be possible to fund new developments, not only in cardiovascular disease but also in other therapeutic areas.