Empty American pockets don’t contain the money needed to buy prescription drugs as lavishly as in recent years, a cold and hard fact that meant prescription drug sales slowed to a crawl in 2008.  The paltry 1.3% increase over 2007′s sales is only the latest in a sales decline that began in 2006.

Meager sales don’t mean Americans are getting healthier; they just spend less on prescription drugs.  Many choose generics when available while others, who quite simply can’t afford prescription drugs at any cost, are doing without, according to data from IMS Health, Inc., which analyzes sales data for the pharmaceutical industry.

According to IMS data:

• Americans spent $291 billion on prescription drugs in 2008, up only 1.3% from the previous year
• In 2007, sales rose only 3.8% from the previous year
• Sales rose only 8% in 2006, after many years of double-digit growth

The volume of prescription drugs dispensed followed the same downward growth rate as sales dollars.  In 2006, volume grew by 4.6% over the previous year, 2.8% in 2007, and only 0.9% in 2008.

When Americans are buying prescription drugs, they’re spending more dollars on antipsychotic medications than anything else.  Lipid medicines, which lower or raise LDL or HDL cholesterols accordingly, account for the highest volume dispensed.

On a volume-dispensed basis, the next leading drugs in 2008 included codeine- and other narcotic-based painkillers, and ACE inhibitors and beta blockers, both prescribed for control of high blood pressure.

IMS expects the downward sales and volume rates to continue in 2009 and beyond.  Three of the most popular drugs on the market – Lipitor, Plavix, and Zyprexa -  will lose their patent rights in 2011, a situation that will probably drop sales figures even further for the drug companies that make them.