Are American guidelines driving up health care costs?

An editorial from the AAFP suggests that the US statin guidelines are too stringent and not cost-efficient when compared to other countries:

Although the American guideline saved a few more lives than the New Zealand guideline, it did so at great cost. If the least expensive statins cost $200 per year, the drug costs associated with the American guideline would be $198,000 to prevent one death, compared with $108,000 for the New Zealand guideline. This does not include the additional costs associated with subsequent office visits and other expenses for monitoring or managing side effects of treatment, all of which make the American guideline even more expensive.

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