U.S. senior citizens are filling fewer prescriptions for drugs as out-of-pocket costs rise in a weak economy, undercutting a record level of new product introductions by drug companies, industry researchers said.
Dispensed prescriptions to patients 65 and older declined 3.1 percent in 2011, compared with a 2.7 percent dip in 2010, according to a study released today by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics in Parsippany, New Jersey. For all age groups, prescriptions fell 1.1 percent last year.
The economy and increased cost-sharing requirements are causing people to make fewer doctor visits and fill fewer orders for pills, IMS said. There probably won’t be improvement in 2012 as the economic recovery and population growth aren’t moving fast enough to boost spending on brand-name drugs, said Michael Kleinrock, the institute’s research development director.
Read the full story: http://hcp.lv/Hjhu4m
Source: Bloomberg
Trump Directs Pharma Companies on Cutting Drug Prices Under Most-Favored-Nation Order
July 31st 2025President Donald Trump has sent letters to pharmaceutical companies, aiming to compel them to lower drug prices in the US to match the lowest prices offered in other developed nations, a move that could significantly reduce costs and disrupt the current system of pharmacy benefit managers.
Read More
Managed Care Reflections: A Q&A With Charles N. (Chip) Kahn III, MPH
July 30th 2025To mark the 30th anniversary of The American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC), each issue in 2025 includes a special feature: reflections from a thought leader on what has changed—and what has not—over the past 3 decades and what’s next for managed care. The August issue features a conversation with Charles N. (Chip) Kahn III, MPH, the president and CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals and a longtime member of the AJMC editorial board.
Read More