Rising costs for prescription drugs are straining budgets around the globe. The 34 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which includes the United States, spent $800 billion on pharmaceuticals in 2013, a new report finds. That’s a full 20 percent of total health spending.
And here’s one key finding: the US spent twice the OECD average on pharmaceuticals purchased at retailers in 2013. The group average was about $500 per person. In the United States, it was $1,026 per person.