What boomers need to know about prescription drugs: How the pharmaceutical industry sees you

Hundreds of Web sites and blogs are abuzz about the lucrative market baby boomers represent in future sales.

The pharmaceutical industry is unique among them.

Marketresearch.com, in hyping a $3,000 program to sell painkillers, calls boomers “an especially ripe market” as they represent a large percentage of the population that is aging and active.

As Boomers age, their predisposition to arthritis will increase; they will continue their active lifestyles but they will be more likely to look for pain relief. Boomers and older consumers will also look to analgesics [pain killers] for prophylactic uses -- to prevent heart attacks and strokes, for example. Research into the uses of analgesics as preventative measures against a number of diseases continues to provide more opportunities for manufacturers.

The organization also sees a market potential in selling more painkillers to babies and toddlers.

Advertising and Marketing Review sums up potential boomers sales like this: “a huge generation guarantees attractive and sizeable market segments for all comers,” and it reports “global pharmaceutical giants have 750 new drugs under development to target the aging process.”

Retail Traffic describes the boomer prescription drug market as follows:

Baby Boomers, many of whom remember the drug culture of their youth, are still into pill popping -- but this time it's the meds of the prescription variety.

The former hippies and their straighter peers are turning 60 now, and their influence is mighty: Boomers make up 28 percent of the population, control 70 percent of financial assets -- and consume a full 75 percent of prescription drugs.

If U.S. health spending continues its more than 15 percent annual growth rates, the Rx drug market could jump to $750 billion by 2013, from $250 billion today, with Boomers accounting for $562.5 million of that total.

'It's the graying of America that's creating these opportunities,' says Richard Walter, president of Faris Lee Investments.

Looking for a piece of that high-priced action? Get in line.

It’s up to boomer consumers to educate themselves about prescription drugs so that they, in cooperation with their health care providers, can decide what is the right level of medication to take. Just because baby boomers represent a large demographic and have tremendous earning power doesn’t mean that prescription drug manufacturers should exploit them.

Tomorrow’s Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide will cover What Boomers Need to Know About Prescription Drugs: Direct to Consumer Advertising.

Comments

[Joe]

Wow - This is a great site for information about consumer information.

[Rita]

Hi Joe,

Thank you for visiting The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide. It's been a real eye-opener to research this series on prescription drugs. I've written about generic prescription drugs and patient package inserts before, but I haven't researched direct-to-consumer advertising. Since I've just gotten television again after about 10 years, I wasn't used to seeing dozens of prescription drug ads daily. It's a powerful tool being used by the pharmaceutical industry to promote new, expensive drugs; and the industry is making tons of money.

One example I ran across was children asking for medications after seeing ads. One six year old asked his doctor if Viagra was right for him!

[Phil]

GREAT Blog! Full of excellent and useful information!

[Rita]

Hi Phil,

Yes, consumer information about prescription drug use is an important topic. Thanks for your comment.

Rita