Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Novel cardiovascular therapeutics and the risk of financial toxicity

  • Comment
  • Published:

From Nature Reviews Cardiology

View current issue Sign up to alerts

Novel cardiovascular therapeutics have the potential to improve health outcomes, but financial toxicity from high out-of-pocket costs can limit the reach of these medications and worsen existing health disparities. Understanding the phenomenon of financial toxicity in treating cardiovascular disease is crucial to achieving health equity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Birger, M. et al. Spending on cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular risk factors in the United States: 1996 to 2016. Circulation 144, 271–282 (2021).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Zafar, S. Y. & Abernethy, A. P. Financial toxicity, part I: a new name for a growing problem. Oncology (Williston Park) 27, 80–81, 149 (2013).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Myers, K. D. et al. Effect of access to prescribed PCSK9 inhibitors on cardiovascular outcomes. Circ. Cardiovasc. Qual. Outcomes 12, e005404 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Chiou, T. T., Tomasi, K., Taub, P. R. & Wilkinson, M. J. Inclisiran creates unique opportunities and challenges for patient access to therapy: early experience in a United States lipid clinic. J. Clin. Lipidol. 17, 73–77 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Gunn, A. H., Warraich, H. J. & Mentz, R. J. Costs of care and financial hardship among patients with heart failure. Am. Heart J. 269, 94–107 (2024).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Ali, H. R. et al. Subjective financial hardship due to medical bills among patients with heart failure in the United States: the 2014–2018 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. J. Card. Fail. 28, 1424–1433 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Wang, S. Y. et al. Out-of-pocket annual health expenditures and financial toxicity from healthcare costs in patients with heart failure in the United States. J. Am. Heart Assoc. 10, e022164 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Luo, J. et al. Evaluation of out-of-pocket costs and treatment intensification with an SGLT2 inhibitor or GLP-1 RA in patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. JAMA Netw. Open 6, e2317886 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Essien, U. R. et al. Association of prescription co-payment with adherence to glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor therapies in patients with heart failure and diabetes. JAMA Netw. Open 6, e2316290 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Kazi, D. S., Wadhera, R. K. & Rome, B. N. The Inflation Reduction Act and access to high-cost cardiovascular therapies. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 330, 1619–1620 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA

    Alexander H. Gunn

  2. Division of Cardiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA

    Akshay Pendyal

Authors
  1. Alexander H. Gunn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Akshay Pendyal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexander H. Gunn.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gunn, A.H., Pendyal, A. Novel cardiovascular therapeutics and the risk of financial toxicity. Nat Rev Cardiol 21, 349–350 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-024-01010-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-024-01010-4

  • Springer Nature Limited

Search

Navigation