US Pharm. 2015;40(6):21.
St. Louis, MO—According to a report released by Express Scripts, 139,000 patients spent at least $100,000 on prescription drugs in 2014, up from 47,000 people the previous year. About 60% of the patients in this group were taking at least 10 medicines from no fewer than four different prescribers. A significant factor in this increase was that more prescriptions are being issued for expensive specialty drugs for diseases such as hepatitis C and cancer. Insurance plans cover 98% of these bills, costing payers $52 billion a year.
To comment on this article, contact rdavidson@uspharmacist.com.
