Industry Studies
A 2012 IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics report found that there were important variations across the U.S. and by patient age in the use of healthcare services in 2011. Young people, age 19-25, increased their use of prescription drugs as many for the first time were able to remain on their parents’ health insurance, while seniors age 65 and over reduced their volume of prescriptions. In addition, the availability of new generic drugs in a number of chronic therapies contributed to a minimal increase in drug expenditures overall in 2011. Total healthcare system spending on medicines reached $320 billion in 2011, up 0.5 percent on a real per capita basis.
Drug shortages in the U.S. are limited primarily to generic injectables and a few key disease areas, according to a 2011 IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics study. Affected products represent a small part of the overall medicines market but include a number of critical drugs used to treat cancer, infection, cardiovascular disease, central nervous system conditions and pain. Although almost 100 companies were supplying the 168 products in short supply, half of those drugs were made by only one or two suppliers. The analysis made use of IMS Health’s database of U.S. prescription sales, and shortages lists compiled by the U.S. FDA and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
Read more about this topic: IMS Health
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