AS Micro: Offering heart drugs by default

Should we screen for signs of disease or change the default and provide drugs as a default option beyond a certain age? In a fascinating new study, medics from the Wolfson Institute at Barts and the London Medical School have put forward the case for offering everyone statins over the age of 55 preventative as treatment for blood pressure and cholesterol - they claim that offering relieving drugs might prevent as many as 100,000 heart attacks and strokes each year in England and Wales alone. It is an interesting example of a cost-benefit approach when allocating health service spending.

The alternative is a screening approach involving blood tests and medical examinations with drugs offered for those subsequently thought most at risk of strokes or heart attacks. Screenings by their very nature are costly because of the huge labour input involved. The proposal focuses only (for the moment) on narrow risk assessments of blood disorders and coronary problems - and keep in mind that the incidence of diabetes and chronic kidney disease continues to rise, the former linked strongly to the rising problem of obesity. Screenings would likely continue for younger people in higher risk groups such as those with a family history of heart disease, people of South Asian origin and people with diabetes

Coverage of the report focuses on one of the key issues - the rate of false positives - namely the percentage of people wrongly diagnosed as being at particular risk. The new report claims that by prescribing statins for anyone over the age of 55, doctors would achieve an 84 per cent accuracy rating for spotting heart problems - a similar false positive rate as the current system of screening.

What might be some of the unintended consequences of moving to default drug provision linked to age? Some medical experts have raised concerns that taking statins might cause people to ignore other aspects of their health such as diet and exercise. A case of moral hazard perhaps? Would you take a pill by default if you had not been screened and assessed beforehand?

Unit 3 Micro: Game Theory and Business Economics [21 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Bank Cuts UK growth Forecast for 2012 [16 May 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Asymmetric Information [12 May 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: De-Merit Goods [12 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Revision Notes on Supply-side Policies [10 May 2012]
Macro Revision: Putting Things in Context [29 Apr 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: The Euro Zone Crisis (Revision) [22 Apr 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Market Failure in Private Health Care [8 Apr 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Revision on Interest Rates and the Exchange Rate [3 Apr 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: The Collapsing Price of Carbon [3 Apr 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Floating and Managed Floating Exchange Rates [2 Apr 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Revision on Capital Investment [30 Mar 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Government launches New Buy Loan Guarantee Scheme [12 Mar 2012]
Mortgage interest rates, LIBOR and game theory [3 Mar 2012]
The Economics of Climate Change - Stern 5 Years On [21 Feb 2012]
A return to Glass-Steagall to prevent another crash? A lesson from economic history. [17 Feb 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: King on the UK Economy [15 Feb 2012]
Martin Wolf on Global Shocks [10 Feb 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Can the UK Computer Games Industry Grow [24 Jan 2012]
Unit1 Micro: Processed Meat and Cancer Risk - Information Failure? [17 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Frontier Markets - the New BRICS? [15 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: UK Bond Yields Reach Record Lows [11 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Natural Disasters and their Economic Impact [7 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Exchange Rate Economics - Where next for the US Dollar? [31 Dec 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: The UK Housing Market in 2011 [26 Dec 2011]
Economics of Deforestation [20 Dec 2011]
Prezi on Information Failures [20 Dec 2011]
Beyond the Bike - What is the value of life in Africa? [19 Nov 2011]
LSE Lecture: Daniel Kahneman - Thinking Fast and Slow [15 Nov 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Should the EU introduce a Tobin Tax? [14 Nov 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Asymmetric Information - Buying a Used Car [14 Nov 2011]
Economics at the Movies: In Time [13 Nov 2011]
AS Macro: The State of British Business [13 Nov 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Should TNCs make full disclosure on factory wages? [30 Oct 2011]
Can the “invisible hand” solve Africa’s poverty? [13 Oct 2011]
So many economic concepts in one article - Indian tomato production. [11 Oct 2011]
Unit 3 Micro: Tube Drivers set to earn £50,000 a year [3 Oct 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Coast Guard Protection and Moral Hazard [29 Sep 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Drink Driving and Government Intervention [26 Sep 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Greece on the Brink of Default [25 Sep 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Sleep, Money, Happiness and Choices! [25 Sep 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: IMF Flags up Risks of Double Dip [20 Sep 2011]
Scarce resources, immigration and the NHS [16 Sep 2011]
UK Macro: Risks of a Double Dip Recession [12 Sep 2011]
NHS spending good, private provision bad? [5 Sep 2011]
Starter Activity: Health Economics [1 Sep 2011]
An activity for the first Economics lesson of the year! [31 Aug 2011]
Monetary Policy Roundtable [25 Jul 2011]
Economics at the Movies - Utility of Decorative Pillows [18 Jul 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Opportunity Cost - [11 Jul 2011]
Where there’s muck there’s brass [6 Jul 2011]
Global Economy: Increased risk of future shocks [28 Jun 2011]
A2 Micro: The Importance of Profit [19 May 2011]
A2 Micro: Business Growth [18 May 2011]
A2 Micro: Ownership and Control in Modern Businesses [18 May 2011]
Unit 3 Micro: Diseconomies of Scale [18 May 2011]
UK Economy Update: What Mervyn Said [11 May 2011]
Electric car charging points ‘shortfall’ [11 May 2011]
Review of “Adapt” by Tim Harford [9 May 2011]
A2 Micro: Innovation in Markets [4 May 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Information Failure [15 Apr 2011]
A2 Macro: Back to Roubini - a Year On! [11 Apr 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Aggregate Supply Shock [6 Apr 2011]
Information Failures: Tesco and Second Hand Cars [3 Apr 2011]
Health Economics: Prescriptions Triple in 15 Years [2 Apr 2011]
Pacific Peso Reaches 29 Year High! [30 Mar 2011]
Progress towards low carbon economic growth [18 Mar 2011]
Timetric: Public Sector Employment [9 Mar 2011]
Information Failures: Health Warnings on Cigarette Packets [27 Feb 2011]
Information Failures: Ponzi Schemes [27 Feb 2011]
Man’s best friend or unacceptable opportunity cost? [18 Feb 2011]
Economics of health care reform [14 Feb 2011]
Mo Tanweer on Global Currency Wars [10 Feb 2011]
David Smith on Shifting Sands in the Global Economy [8 Feb 2011]
Martin Weale argues for higher interest rates now! [1 Feb 2011]
Regulation and the banking industry: reflections from Davos [30 Jan 2011]
Environmental Economics: Five Fresh Links [13 Jan 2011]
Economics Q&A: Will the Government spending cuts affect inflation? [3 Jan 2011]
Using Google Docs - The Irish Financial Crisis [29 Nov 2010]
Agflation - a new food price crisis in 2011? [18 Nov 2010]
Keeping the Plates Spinning - the Success of the Goodwood Brand [11 Nov 2010]
Switching Off Street Lighting [10 Nov 2010]
The unkindest cut of all? [5 Nov 2010]
The Acid Burns Through - Requiem for Neo Liberalism [28 Oct 2010]
The Upside of Irrationality - Dan Ariely at the LSE [27 Oct 2010]
Predicting recessions - a mugs game [27 Oct 2010]
Risks of over-capacity in Chinese car making [17 Oct 2010]
The Costs and Benefits of Inequality [17 Oct 2010]
Price mechanism in action - student car insurance [16 Oct 2010]
A £113m lottery win - link to opportunity cost [14 Oct 2010]
Bad Snow Fall in London? [11 Oct 2010]
Jerome Kerviel and the Principal Agent Problem [5 Oct 2010]
Substitute goods, scarcity & the recession - Toshiba’s OLED TVs [4 Oct 2010]
Growing the Warburtons Brand - Focusing on Core Values [3 Oct 2010]
Running out of Monet [1 Oct 2010]
Damien Hirst - Artist and Economist ? [30 Sep 2010]
IMF signs off on UK’s fiscal plans [27 Sep 2010]
Income elasticity of demand - London’s luxury hotels [26 Sep 2010]
Development Economics - new Ted talk [6 Sep 2010]
Autumn leaves are falling for the global economy [2 Sep 2010]

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