Human Drugs & Veterinary Drugs - A Cost Comparison
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Objective: The aim of this study was to provide an updated comparison of veterinary drug costs with human pharmacy equivalents. Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted by identifying the 50 most common drugs from Medicare Part D spending data, and obtaining the costs of these drugs, in addition to select antidepressants and ophthalmic medications, from human retail (GoodRx, DiRx, and Cost Plus Drugs) and veterinary pharmacy websites (Chewy and Pet Meds). Main outcome measures: Drug costs per tablet were calculated using 30-, 60-, and 90-count quantities. Drug cost data was normalized, and costs were compared via Student’s T-test. Results: 41 drugs were analyzed between human and veterinary pharmacy alternatives. For 90-day supply costs, Cost Plus Drugs provided the cheapest price for 30/41 cases. The lowest normalized drug cost per unit 90-day supply was 0.4406 for Cost Plus Drugs, with DiRx second at 0.5789 (p < .05). For 30-day supply costs, Chewy provided the cheapest price for 30/41 cases. The lowest normalized drug cost per unit for a 30-day supply was 0.4665 for Chewy, with no significant difference to Cost Plus Drugs at 0.5270 (p > .05). Conclusion: These results demonstrate that home-delivery pharmaceutical services offer more affordable options and address the high cost of human medications compared to equivalent veterinary medications. This represents a step forward in identifying solutions to reduce healthcare expenditures and pharmaceutical costs.
Source: ConductScience Journal
DOI: 10.55157/csj.v2i2.2
Language: English
Subfield: Economics and Econometrics
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4413442204