Generic drugs saved U.S. $1T over 10 years, industry study finds

Generic drug makers released a study Thursday that found generic pharmaceuticals have saved the U.S. -- through private prescriptions as well as Medicare and Medicaid -- more than $1 trillion over 10 years.

The Hill's Healthwatch: Study: Generic Drugs have Saved U.S. $1 Trillion
Generic drugs have saved the health care system more than $1 trillion over the last decade, according to research released Thursday by the generics industry. The industry is pushing for expanded use of generics in Medicare and Medicaid, and the new research suggests that generics have helped control the government's spending on prescription drugs (Baker, 8/2).

CQ HealthBeat: Generic-Drug Study Touted In Effort To Reduce Health Care Costs
Generic drugs saved consumers more than $1 trillion over 10 years and offer a prime area in which to find savings in health care, the generic drug industry and Democrats said Thursday. A study by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, a market research company, showed that savings from generic drugs amounted to $1.07 trillion between 2002 and 2011, including $193 billion in 2011 alone (Ethridge, 8/2).

Medpage Today: Industry: Generics Saved $193 Billion
The General Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA) is spotlighting the savings in an effort to encourage policymakers to protect and spur use of their products through an upcoming critical budgetary debate. "As government leaders in Washington and across the country look for ways to cut health care costs, this new analysis details the remarkable savings achieved through the use of generic medications," states the fourth annual Generic Drug Savings analysis (Pittman, 8/2).

The Associated Press: Report: Generic Drugs Saved $193 Billion In 2011
The fourth annual report, produced for the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, found use of generic prescription drugs in the U.S. saved about $193 billion last year alone. That amount was up 22 percent from the $158 billion in savings from generics in 2010, and was more than three times the $60 billion in savings in 2002, the report states (Johnson, 8/2).

In other news related to drug costs --

Reuters: Cash Rewards Keep People On Their Medications
Weekly rewards of as little as $5 could keep people on track with their medications, says a new study. … For the new study, Dr. Nancy Petry and her team at the University of Connecticut looked at 21 studies that offered incentives to people taking medication for tuberculosis, substance abuse, HIV, hepatitis, schizophrenia and stroke prevention (Sheriff, 8/2).