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| Prescription Drug Sales Increased
By Nearly 20% Last Year in US |
Retail prescription drug spending in the US
increased for the fifth straight year in 2000, primarily reflecting
higher sales of a relatively small number of drugs.
As an aging population coped with arthritis, diabetes and high
cholesterol, spending on prescription drugs shot up nearly 20 percent last
year, to $132 billion.
Two dozen products accounted for half the increase, which occurred not
just because drugs are becoming more expensive but because doctors are
writing many more prescriptions for higher-cost drugs, the study said.
The study was issued today by the National Institute for Health Care
Management Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that conducts
research on health care issues.
The trend will probably increase political pressure for new government
benefits to help elderly people buy prescription drugs, but it also makes
clear how costly such benefits could be. President Bush has proposed
spending $153 billion on drug benefits and unspecified "Medicare reforms"
over the next 10 years, but Democrats say that sum is grossly inadequate,
and the foundation's study may provide new ammunition to both sides.
The $21 billion increase in spending "was attributable, in large measure,
to the rising volume of prescriptions for the top-selling drugs," the
study said. Researchers said more aggressive marketing by drug
companies contributed to the growth.
The top sellers include Vioxx, an arthritis drug made by Merck &
Company; Lipitor, a cholesterol reducer sold by Pfizer; Prevacid,
an ulcer drug sold by Tap Pharmaceuticals; Celebrex, an arthritis
medicine marketed by Pharmacia and Pfizer, and Glucophage, a
diabetes drug made by Bristol-Myers Squibb.
The increase in sales of these five drugs alone accounted for one-fifth of
the entire increase in sales of prescription drugs last year, the study
said.
The rate of increase in drug spending was about the same last year as in
1999, so the foundation estimates that drug spending rose 40 percent from
1998 to 2000.
That growth has pushed up health insurance premiums for individuals and
families. It has contributed to increases in the cost of health benefits
provided by employers. And it has driven up the cost of Medicaid, the
federal-state program for the poor.
The report identified three factors contributing to the increase in retail
spending on prescription drugs last year. It said that 42 percent was
attributable to an increase in the number of prescriptions written by
doctors and filled by pharmacies.
At the same time, it said, a shift toward the use of more expensive drugs
accounted for 36 percent of the overall increase in spending, while price
increases accounted for the remaining 22 percent.
| The 50 top-selling
medicines accounted for 30 percent of all prescriptions last year, and
these medications cost almost twice as much as other drugs, the report
said. The average price for a prescription for one of the top 50 drugs
was $67, while the average for other drugs was $36, it said.
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Retail pharmacies filled 3
billion prescriptions last year, an increase of over 7 percent over the
2.7 billion filled in 1999, the study said. But the 50 best-selling
drugs posted a much sharper increase, as the number of prescriptions rose
over 18 percent, to 867 million, from 731 million.
The government recently predicted that drug spending would rise an average
of 12 percent a year in the coming decade, as scientists unlock secrets of
the human genome, the baby boom generation ages and the nation pours huge
sums into biomedical research, filling the pipeline with potentially
useful new drugs.
Drug companies say they are developing more than 350 medicines to fight
cancer and more than 120 to treat or prevent heart disease and stroke.
Antidepressants were the best- selling category of prescription
medicines last year, as they were in 1999. Retail sales of
antidepressants totaled over $10 billion in 2000, up 21 percent from the
previous year.
The average price for a prescription of antidepressants was $68 last year,
up from $63 in 1999.
The report said this change "reflects a rise in the price of individual
drugs, but also the fact that pharmacies are dispensing more of the more
expensive antidepressants such as Paxil, Celexa and Wellbutrin." These
drugs, it said, are 50 percent to 75 percent more expensive than other
antidepressants.
Comparing the number of prescriptions filled in each of the last two
years, the study found that retail pharmacies dispensed 42 percent more
Celebrex, 32 percent more Lipitor, 31 percent more Prevacid, 30 percent
more Viagra (for impotence), 71 percent more Enbrel (for rheumatoid
arthritis) and 74 percent more Singulair (for asthma).
Nancy Chockley, president of the National Institute for Health Care
Management Foundation, said: "The recent rise in pharmaceutical spending
is due, in large measure, to the growth in sales of a relatively small
number of medicines. Most of these drugs are the blockbusters many
Americans have come to know by name and see advertised more and more."
More aggressive marketing of prescription drugs to consumers and doctors
has stimulated a major increase in sales, in part because consumers learn
of new remedies and ask their doctors for prescriptions, researchers said.
Better insurance coverage for drugs has also contributed to the trend, by
making consumers somewhat less sensitive to drug prices.
Nineteen drugs had retail sales exceeding $1 billion last year, up from 15
such drugs in 1999. Leading the list of top sellers was Prilosec, the
antiulcer drug sold by AstraZeneca, with sales of $4 billion last year, up
from $3.6 billion in 1999.
While total sales of prescription drugs rose 19 percent last year, sales
of the 50 best-selling drugs rose 30 percent, to $58 billion, from $45
billion in 1999.
Drugs to treat ulcers, heartburn and other gastrointestinal problems were
second to antidepressants in overall sales. Retail sales of these
medicines totaled $9.5 billion last year, up 20 percent from 1999. Sales
of Prilosec rose 12.4 percent, to $4 billion last year, while sales of its
main competitor, Prevacid, increased 37 percent, to $3 billion.
The study was based on data from Scott-Levin Inc., a health care market
research company in Newtown, Pa. The figures do not include mail- order
sales. But the report said mail- order sales of prescription drugs totaled
$16 billion last year, up 26 percent from $12.7 billion in 1999.
NewYork Times May 8, 2001
National Institute for Health Care Management Research and Educational
Foundation May 11, 2001
Our Comment:
This should give you an idea
of the magnitude of the problems faced with prescription drugs. Drug
companies are not stupid. But their ultimate product is making MONEY, not
in preserving your health.
When you see the fancy drug commercials promoting drugs, these happy
people aren't in reality that happy. Remember that many of these people
die in their "happy state".
What can you do? Tell your friends to visit this site so that they may
find effective natural alternatives to drugs. Read as much as you can to
learn about other ways to treat and protect your health.
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