Prescription Drug

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May 19, 200  

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.

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

DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT:

Isn't this just a prescription for disaster? The drug companies are

having their heyday now. They are not stupid by any stretch of the

imagination. They have hired some of the most effective marketing people

in the country to promote their products.

Additionally, the increased media exposure through direct advertisments

on television to consumers is making a huge impact.

However, folks the emperor has no clothes, and the emperor knows it. The

traditional paradigm is fatally flawed. It does NOT work for any chronic

illness. The drug/surgery model is an unmitigated disaster that has

greatly contributed to pharmaceutical profits at the expense of the

health of our country.

The truth will come out. I hope to facilitate that with this site. You

can help by passing this newsletter to as many people as you know, so

they will have PRACTICAL alternatives to this drug based model that work

and will not accelerate the death rate.

Believe me folks, the drug companies are NOT your friends. They could

care less about your health. Their main concern is corporate profits. If

you don't believe me carefully review the links below.

Related Articles:

Conflicts of Interest and Ethics

Drug Industry Stalks the US Corridors of Power

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