http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2006/04/13/drug-spending-out-of-control-record-600-billion-spent-worldwide.aspxWorldwide annual spending for prescription drugs has topped $600 billion for the first time ever in 2005. The United States accounted for more than $250 billion, but the fastest growth was in emerging markets such as China , Russia , South Korea and MexicoenCommunityServer 2008.5 SP1 (Build: 31106.3070)