Reply to Letter to the Editor "Is Divalproex a Cost Effective Alternative in the Acute and Prophylactic Treatment of Bipolar I Disorder?"

Letter to the Editor

Sir: We thank Drs. Dardennes and Even for their interest in our article and for their comments. Our conclusions from the decision- analytic model proposed in our article were that, based on the available evidence, divalproex appeared to be less costly overall in the treatment of patients with bipolar disorder, but that cost differences were also dependent on the type of manic syndrome. For patients with classic mania, lithium appeared to be less costly, whereas for mixed mania or rapid cycling, divalproex appeared to have a cost advantage.