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In the U.S., prescription drugs account for an estimated 17% of total healthcare costs, and per capita spending on prescription drugs is more than double that in many other industrialized countries. Researchers examined articles published in peer-reviewed medical and health policy journals between 2005 and 2016 and identified several key factors related to prescription drug prices, including the following:
Brand-name drugs constitute only 10% of all prescriptions but account for 72% of drug spending; some of the most expensive brand-name medications cost as much as US$300,000 annually per patient or $100,000 per course of therapy.
The prices of some older generic drugs have risen dramatically, some by more than 1000%, because of lack of compe…