US sales of prescription drugs were up 15% to $145 billion in 2000, according to a report released on May 31 by pharmaceutical market research firm IMS Health. The increase was driven mainly by sales of cholesterol fighters, which registered $9 billion in sales.
While AstraZeneca's ulcer drug Prilosec (omeprazole), the world's top-selling medication, once again led overall sales with $4.6 billion, Pfizer's cholesterol drug Lipitor (atorvastatin) placed a close second with sales of $4.1 billion.
Of the total increase in prescription sales last year in the US, 9% resulted from a higher number of prescriptions written, with only 4% due to price increases and 2% resulting from new medicines, IMS said.
The IMS report also ranked New York-based Pfizer as the top-seller of prescription drugs in the US in 2000, with $15.3 billion in sales. While third in overall US sales last year, Merck & Co., of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, had the greatest increase in US sales, rising 22% over 1999 to $11 billion, according to the report.
Reuters June 2, 2001
Always nice to see what the current numbers are. Do you believe that nearly 5 BILLION dollars are spent each year on Prilosec?
I remember when the late Senator Everett Dirksen was fond of talking about Defense Department spending by saying "a billion dollars here and a billion dollars there, and before you know it you are talking about real money."
Well he was right, a billion dollars is a bunch of money and has enormous influence shaping the traditional medical paradigm. This is what drives the entire system and is making it so difficult to change.
But folks, we can change it. Truth will win out in the end and you can be a huge part of it by spreading the word about the newsletter.
When enough people know the truth they will seek inexpensive natural therapies to the drug model that really work and do not kill them.
So please encourage your friends, relatives, neighbors, clients, and patients if you are a health care professional to sign up for the newsletter.
Later this year it will have some of the most absolutely innovative designs on the Net which will allow everyone to have their individual specific health questions answered. I am hoping to have this service ready by the fall.
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