2010: Smallest increase in drug spending

The seemingly immutable rise of prescription drug spending in America is slowing, according to a new report released Tuesday by the consulting firm IMS Health. In 2010, the U.S. spent $307 billion on medications — a 2.3 percent increase from 2009, the slowest rise in drug spending in recent memory. In addition to fewer doctor visits, and the loss of patent protection for a number of blockbuster drugs, IMS also attributes the prescription drug spending lull to the increased use of cheaper generic drugs, which accounted for a record 78 percent of all drugs dispensed by retail drug stores and long-term care facilities in 2010. In fact, all of the top ten prescribed drugs presented in the report are generic; the most common drug was the generic version of the pain reliever Vicodin (hydrocodone plus acetaminophen).

While health care costs are a big concern to all of us and one of the prime motivations for the new ObamaCare initiative, says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross, “it’s clear that even without the implementation of Obama’s health reforms, the drug component of health costs has already slowed dramatically. Blaming big pharma for massive health expenditures has no basis in fact.”

However, the issue of prescription drugs is more complex than mere costs; see the next story, "Controlling painkilling drug abuse: A double-edged sword."