Managed care's influence felt on brand-name drugs

MANAGED CARE November 1999. ©1999 MediMedia USA

Intensified efforts by managed care organizations to encourage members, pharmacists, and physicians to use generic drugs are slowly driving up the share of prescriptions filled with generics. The 46 percent of new prescriptions filled with generics in 1997 made up about 12 percent of retail prescription-drug sales. But for certain therapeutic categories, a majority of pharmacists say they would hesitate to use generic substitution.

SOURCE: MARKINTEL BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS, 1999