PATHFIRE NEWS FEED/Study Reveals $20 Billion in Untapped Generic Drug Savings.

Generics Use Varies by State: Massachusetts, Oregon and New Mexico Have Highest Usage; New Jersey and New York Have Lowest

WHAT: Available on Pathfire Story Number ESI001 in Video News Feeds,
    Master VNF Locator page (See below for instructions on where to
    locate within the Pathfire DMG application.)

    A new study released today by Express Scripts revealed that U.S.
    consumers could have saved $20 billion in 2004 and can save even
    more in coming years by using more generic drugs. The "2004
    Generic Drug Usage Report" examined six major drug categories, and
    may hold the solution to rising healthcare costs Americans have
    been battling for years.

    The report also reveals that:

    --  In the next five years, more than $50 billion in branded drugs
        will lose patent exclusivity, with $11 billion being within
        the next year alone.

    --  Consumers can save as much as $10 or more per prescription by
        using generics.

    --  Massachusetts, Oregon and New Mexico had the highest generic
        fill rates at 56% each.

    --  The lowest generic fill rates were in New Jersey (41%) and New
        York (43%).

    --  Southern states, including Texas, Louisiana and Florida, opted
        for generics for fewer than 46% of all prescriptions filled in
        2004.

    --  The states with the greatest savings opportunities from
        generics are California and Texas, at $1.5 billion each, and
        New York, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, at $1 billion each.

PATHFIRE FEED CONTAINS:
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B-Roll:
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--  Sound bites of Dr. Steve Miller, MD, Vice President, Express
    Scripts, commenting on $20 billion savings, $50 billion in drugs
    going generic, the potential to use $20 billion - the same amount
    hospitals spend annually on uninsured care and actions - to
    increase generic drug use

--  U.S. Map: Generic Drug Usage Variation

--  Chart: Drugs Going Generic

--  Chart: $20 Billion in Generic Drug Savings

SOT:
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--  Express Scripts Vice President, Steve Miller, M.D.

INSTRUCTIONS
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ONLINE MEDIA KIT:   http://www.express-scripts.com/pr/generics

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