Expiring patents drive drug spending's first time fall

Patient spending on prescription drugs fell in 2012 -- for the first time ever, a new study reports -- due in part to expiring patents on brand-name drugs.

Kaiser Health News: Capsules: Study: Per Capita Rx Spending Fell For First Time In 2012
Now on Kaiser Health News' blog, Alvin Tran reports on a study tracking per capita prescription drug spending: "Americans' per capita spending on prescription drugs fell last year for the first time on record, according to a report released Thursday by the IMS Institute For Healthcare Informatics firm headquartered in Danbury, Conn., which tracks pharmaceutical sales and other health care data" (Tran, 5/9).

Reuters: U.S. Spending On Medicines Fell For First Time In 2012
Patent expirations on big-name drugs such as Lipitor and Plavix has resulted in modestly less spending on medicines in the United States for the first time in at least 55 years, according to a report released on Thursday. Overall U.S. spending on medicines totaled $325.8 billion in 2012, down 1 percent from 2011, according to the report from the IMS Institute of Healthcare Informatics. Adjusting for population, per capita spending fell 3.5 percent to $898 (Beasley, 5/9).