PATIENTS BUYING FEWER PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

The growth in prescriptions filled by U.S. pharmacies is at its slowest in at least ten years, as increasing health care costs and a slowing economy are making medication harder to afford. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, the drug industry usually remains stable in economic downturns, because patients still require medicine. However, the number of prescriptions filled in the second quarter of 2008 may have actually decreased, due to higher numbers of Americans without health insurance and "skyrocketing out-of-pocket drug costs" putting the cost of some medications out of reach. Patients are facing additional burdens as the health care industry has forced consumers to shoulder larger percentages of many costs. A Kaiser Family Foundation study found that for a "preferred drug" through a tiered insurance plan, average co-payments rose 67 percent from $15 in 2000 to $25 in 2007. In fact, 23 percent of respondents to a Kaiser foundation poll failed to fill a prescription in the last year for cost reasons, up from 20 percent in 2005. Additionally, 19 percent either skipped doses or split pills, an increase from 16 percent in 2005.