Annual Costs: Generics vs. Brand-Name Medications

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MDEdge: Cost gap widens between brand-name, generic drugs

An excerpt:

  • The average cost of a brand-name drug was 18.6 times higher than its generic equivalent in 2017, and the size of that gap has more than tripled since 2013, according to a report from the AARP Public Policy Institute…
  • In 2017, the average retail cost of 260 generic drugs widely used by older adults for chronic conditions was $365 for a year of therapy, compared with $6,798 for brand-name drugs. In 2013, that same year of therapy with an average brand-name drug ($4,308) was only 5.7 times more expensive than the generic ($751)…
  • “Generics account for nearly 9 out of every 10 prescriptions filled in the U.S. but represent less than a quarter of the country’s drug spending,” Debra Whitman, executive vice president and chief public policy officer at AARP

My take (borrowed in part from Debra Whitman):

  1. “These results highlight the importance of eliminating anticompetitive behavior by brand-name drug companies so that we get more lower-priced generic drugs on the market”
  2. This data shows the alarming increase in cost of brand-name medications.

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2 thoughts on “Annual Costs: Generics vs. Brand-Name Medications”

  1. “These results highlight the importance of eliminating anticompetitive behavior by brand-name drug companies so that we get more lower-priced generic drugs on the market”

    Who are the politicians in your country that share this sentiment?

  2. Pingback: Reform Needed of Orphan Drug Act | gutsandgrowth

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