Sunday, March 29, 2009

Canadians using more prescription drugs, drug-tracking firm reports

From the Canadian Press:
Canadians are taking more prescription drugs than ever before, and increasingly those medicines are generic versions rather than brand-names, says a company that tracks worldwide pharmaceutical sales.

In a report released Thursday, IMS Health said the number of prescriptions filled by Canadians rose by more than seven per cent in 2008 over the previous year.

Prescription spending last year hit an estimated $21.4 billion, up from $20.2 billion in 2007, said IMS. In all, pharmacists countrywide dispensed 453 million prescriptions, for an average of roughly 14 per Canadian.

Brian Carter, director of external affairs for IMS Health Canada, said the 2008 rise in total prescriptions reflects a trend that's been going on for several years.

"Basically it's an increased utilization, but that's driven by things like the aging population, an increasing number of products in the marketplace and increasing awareness of consumers of the diseases they have and the drugs that are there to treat them," Carter said from Edmonton. ...more

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