Gastrointestinal (GI) diseases pose a monumental burden in the US in terms of both the annual number of cases and costs, according to the results of a study commissioned by the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) and conducted by The Lewin Group.*The study assessed the prevalence and cost of only a small proportion of GI diseases and found that these diseases alone affect > 283 million patients per year and are associated with direct and indirect costs totalling an estimated $US42 billion. Data from the study were presented at a news conference at Digestive Disease Week 2001 [Atlanta, US; May 2001], where Professor Mark Donowitz from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, US, described this economic burden as'shockingly large'.