OBJECTIVES: To assess the clinical and economic burden of ovarian cancer in the US veteran population. METHODS: A retrospective study (October 01, 2005 to September 30, 2010) was conducted using the Veterans Health Affairs Medical SAS Datasets. Patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer were included in the study. Health care resource utilization and costs were assessed for ovarian cancer patients in the 12-month follow-up period. Patients' demographic, clinical and discharge statuses were compared using Chi-square testing and standardized differences. Student t-tests were used for the means of continuous variables. Mortality and survival rates were also calculated using the Kaplan and Meier method and the PROC LIFETEST procedure. RESULTS: Among the selected ovarian cancer patients (n=1,148), the total mortality rate in the 12-month follow-up period was 20.84% (n=239). The most commonly prescribed medications were sodium chloride (3.14%), dextrose (1.83%), potassium chloride (1.58%), and warfarin (1.02%). The average number of inpatient (0.46), emergency room (ER) (0.41), physician office (30.31) and outpatient visits (30.74) were calculated per patient. The percentage of inpatient, ER, physician office and outpatient were 27.35%, 21.43%, 100% and 100%, respectively. The cost of inpatient, ER, physician office and outpatient visits were $6610, $138, $9702, and $9959, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: More research is required to better understand adverse events and side effects of ovarian cancer treatments. This study suggests that sodium chloride and dextrose were the most frequently prescribed drugs after diagnosis of ovarian cancer.