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	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

I read with interest the article by Reichert et al.¹ The article is relevant and timely. In India, it is much more important as our people are poor and they have to pay a large sum of their salary and/or savings for even a single episode of sickness.

It is really a matter of concern to know that 80% of physicians are unaware of the cost of the drugs.

In a study conducted in our hospital,² we surveyed doctors and nurses regarding the cost of 15 commonly used items (drugs [ranitidine, diclofenac, nifedipine, etc], disposables, and investigations [electrocardiogram, x-ray examination, blood glucose estimation, etc]). Cost estimates that fell within 20% of the correct prices were considered acceptable; 41% of the responses were incorrect (24% were overestimated and 17% were underestimated). The doctors underestimated costs more frequently than the nurses.

Both underestimates and overestimates affect health care service. The chances of . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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RELATED ARTICLE

Physicians' Attitudes About Prescribing and Knowledge of the Costs of Common Medications
Steven Reichert, Todd Simon, and Ethan A. Halm
Arch Intern Med. 2000;160(18):2799-2803.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT