Pharmacy-related wasteful spending topped $403 billion in 2010, up from $163 billion in 2009, according to the 2010 Drug Trends Report by Express Scripts. Between 2010 and 2014, estimates put the figure at more than $1.2 trillion.
The chief source of this wasteful spending is not what most advisers would cite first, namely higher-priced brand-name medications or higher costs associated with retail rather than home delivery. Express Scripts estimates that more than half of the pharmacy-related waste – a staggering $258.3 billion – is from patients who do not take their medications as prescribed.
