-Caveat Lector-
Happy are the drug companies for this is a tremendous increase
for one year.
~Amelia~
Prescription Drug Sales Increase By Nearly 20%
High Grain Diet Increases Diabetes in Pima Indians
Canned Foods Found to Have Low Levels of Potent Carcinogen
Vegetarian Diet May Increase Alzheimers Risk
Grass Fed Cattle Benefits Animals And People
The Estrogen Alternative
Biblical Nutrition
Site Search
Free Newsletter
Read this first
Home Page New Patients Nutrition Help
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
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
