A Merck representative visits your office and tells you that Fosamax (alendronate) will decrease the incidence of repeat hip fracture by 50% over 3 years. That excites you because you have 20 elderly women and 5 elderly men who already have fractured one hip in your practice. You locate the study by Black in Lancet (1996) and find out that fracture occurs in 2.2% of placebo patients and 1.1% of patients on Fosamax.

QUESTION: The daily cost for Fosamax is $3.65. Calculate the COPE for this brand name drug if the number of years treated is 3 years. Round to the nearest whole dollar.

QUESTION: The daily cost for generic alendronate is $0.21. Calculate the COPE for this generic name drug if the number of years treated is 3 years. Round to the nearest whole dollar.