Americans spend most on Lipitor, drug survey finds

Wed Sep 12, 2:38 PM ET
U.S. consumers spent more money on the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor -- more than $9 billion -- than any other prescription drug in 2004, according to federal estimates released on Wednesday.
Cholesterol drugs in general raked in the most money for their makers, according to the survey by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
While adults of all ages spent more on Pfizer's Lipitor than any other single drug, the survey found Merck and Co's Zocor was second with $4.7 billion in sales.
Stomach acid drugs also accounted for a large chunk of prescription spending. AstraZeneca's Nexium accounted for $4.2 billion in 2004 spending while Prevacid, sold by a joint venture of Abbott Laboratories Inc and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, brought in more than $2.4 billion.
Antidepressant Zoloft, also made by Pfizer, took in $1.9 billion in spending by adults aged 18 to 64.
For children aged 17 and under, the most money was spent on Merck's asthma drug Singulair -- $680 million. Johnson & Johnson's attention deficit drug Concerta ranked second, with spending of $490 million.
Rival ADHD drugs Strattera, made by Eli Lilly and Co and Adderall, made by Shire Plc, both also brought in more than $400 million in annual spending each.
The allergy drug Zyrtec, made by Belgian pharmaceutical group UCB, made $420 million in sales to the under-18 group.
For Americans aged 65 and older, Lipitor and Zocor ranked first and second in total 2004 spending, followed by Plavix, an antiplatelet drug made by Sanofi-Aventis at $1.7 billion.
Seniors spent $1.5 billion on Pfizer's Norvasc, a calcium channel blocker drug that treats high blood pressure and chest pain.
The survey did not include spending on generic and over-the-counter drugs, which are far cheaper than prescription drugs that have few or no generic rivals. Many of the drugs in the study are now sold generically.
The survey also excluded drugs that are administered in a doctor's office or hospital, such as cancer drugs.
The full survey is available at http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_files/publications/st180/s tat180.pdf.