At the 47th annual conference of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, a session on prescription drugs revealed the following:
• Over 1000 new drugs have been introduced in the last 10 years.
• The average prescription cost is $75 per month. Some advanced “biotech” drugs cost as much as $1,250 per month.
• Drug companies spend $15.7 billion on marketing in 2000. This was a 13 percent increase over the prior year.
• Drug costs are increasing as much as 25 percent per year.
• Over 50 percent of the year-to-year increase in drug expenditures is due to drugs treating cholesterol, arthritis, chronic pain, ulcers, depression, allergies, diabetes, and seizures.
• The number one drug category is treatment for depression.
• The top 50 drugs account for 30 percent of all drug costs.