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Some U.S. residents cut back on Prescription
Drugs to save money
[Oct 22, 2008] The
New York Times on
Wednesday examined how, as "people around
the country respond to financial and
economic hard times by juggling the cost of
necessities like groceries and housing,
drugs are sometimes having to wait."
An analysis conducted recently by
IMS Health found that U.S.
prescription drug sales in the first eight
months of 2008 failed to increase for the
first time in more than 10 years.
In
addition,
Pfizer, the largest
pharmaceutical company worldwide by sales,
on Tuesday said that third-quarter U.S.
sales decreased by 13% from a year earlier.
According to the
Times,
"many doctors and other experts say consumer
belt-tightening is a big factor in the
prescription downturn," and the trend "could
have potentially profound implications."
James King, chair of the
American Academy of Family Physicians,
said, "People are having to choose between
gas, meals and medication."
Timothy Anderson, a pharmaceutical industry
analyst with
Sanford Bernstein, said that the
decrease in sales of prescription drugs is
"most likely tied to a worsening economic
environment."
In addition to the economic downturn,
increased out-of-pocket costs for
prescription drugs might have contributed to
the decrease in prescription drug sales.
An annual employer survey from the
Kaiser Family Foundation and the
Health Research and Educational Trust
found that average copayments for
prescription drugs on "preferred" lists
established by health insurers increased to
$25 in 2007 from $15 in 2000.
The Medicare prescription drug benefit
"doughnut hole," in which beneficiaries must
cover the full cost of their treatments,
also might have contributed to the decrease
in prescription drug sales, as studies have
found that many beneficiaries end treatment
with medications when they reach the
coverage gap.
The decrease in prescription drug sales also
might have resulted from "adverse publicity
about some big-selling medications" -- such
as the cholesterol medications Zetia,
marketed by
Merck, and Vytorin, marketed by a
joint venture of Merck and
Schering-Plough -- and the shift
of the allergy medication Zyrtec, marketed
by
Johnson & Johnson, to
over-the-counter status, the
Times
reports (Saul,
New York Times,
10/22).
Survey
In related news, CBS News reports on a new
survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation
showing growing numbers of Americans
reporting problems paying medical bills.
According
to the survey, 36% of residents have delayed
medical care in the past year because of
cost, 31% have skipped a test or treatment
and 27% have decided not to fill a
prescription.
About one-third of residents said that they
had problems with payment of medical bills,
compared with one-fourth in 2006, and almost
half said that a family member has delayed
or cut back on needed care due to cost,
according to the survey.
Sherry Glied, a health economist at
Columbia University, said, "When
people cut back on preventive care they're
really cutting back on their own lives and
health and the quality of their lives in the
long run" (LaPook, "Evening
News," CBS, 10/21).
The October Kaiser Health Tracking Poll:
Election 2008, the eleventh and final in a
series designed and analyzed by the
Foundation's public opinion research team,
also examines voters' specific health care
issue interests and perceptions of the major
presidential candidates' positions on health
care and reform. Full results are available
online.
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