A new paper by Frank Lichtenberg says new cardiovascular drugs increased spending on drugs by $24 per capita over a ten-year period, but reduced hospital costs by $89-for a net savings of $65 for every man, woman and child in the country.  Also, people live longer as a result.

A second paper, using Australian data, finds that newer drugs increased life expectancy by 1.23 years for a cost of $10,585 per year of extra life.  (In the cost/benefit business, this is considered a very good return.)

Hat tip to Jason Shafrim, who has a very good blog.