Life's quality: A major consideration in health care delivery — Especially with hypertensive diseases

Summary

The purposes of this paper are severalfold: a) to avoid a cloak of product inference; b) to focus attention on the need to keep patients on long-term (antihypertensive) therapy with as few side effects as possible; c) to acknowledge certain arguments relating to side effects, some of which have engendered concern among respected authorities in the field; d) to underscore the validity of current health care preoccupations relating to cost containment and cost effectiveness; and e) to question the wisdom of certain governments around the world in suggesting that low-cost antihypertensive medications that are already available should be used in preference to newer and more costly drugs no matter what the theoretical or clinical justification.