14 April 2016 - As reported by Peter Loftus of the Wall Street Journal, IMS Health disclosed that total spending on prescription drugs in 2015 rose 12.2% to almost $425 billion.

Since drug pricing continues to be a major topic of discussion, especially heightened by the rhetoric surrounding the U.S. presidential campaigns, this increase will garner a lot of attention. However, as Loftus points out, after price breaks, manufacturers received $309.5 billion for their valuable products, an 8.5% increase over 2014. (The difference from the $425 billion figure is that the latter is based on the list prices that pharmacies and hospitals pay drug-wholesale distributors).

For more details, go to: http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnlamattina/2016/04/14/u-s-drug-prices-to-decline/#1abc0bf22c3e