Medicines In these cities, fewer pills are prescribed

Hamburg and Munich: doctors prescribe comparatively little pills
Drug expenditure has increased significantly in recent years. In German cities, however, there are enormous differences in how many drugs doctors prescribe to their patients. In Munich and Hamburg, for example, relatively few pills are prescribed.

More medication prescribed
Drug expenditure in Germany has increased significantly in recent years. In 2014, they were around 40 billion euros. Although doctors prescribe more medicines, it is not distributed equally in all cities. For example, according to Barmer GEK, Hamburg doctors prescribe fewer medicines than their colleagues in other major German cities. As the health insurance company announced, insured persons in the Hanseatic city were on average prescribed medicines worth 481 euros in 2014.

The prescribed medicines per capita vary considerably between the individual cities and regions. (Image: grafikplusfoto / fotolia.com)

In Hamburg and Munich less pills are prescribed
Even lower were the per capita costs for drugs in Munich with 467 euros, Stuttgart with 468 and Frankfurt with 478 euros. Significantly more must pay the Barmer GEK for the medicine of their insured on average in Cologne (514), Dusseldorf (516), Berlin (522), Dresden (542) and Leipzig (587). The fund had already announced at the end of last year that spending in the new federal states are significantly higher than in the old, although it was calculated that there live more old. Nationwide, the cost of medicines at Barmer GEK amounted to 4.5 billion euros or 520 euros per insured.

Strong increase in drug costs
According to the data, drug costs rose by nine percent compared to the previous year. As other cash registers reported, a decline in discounts in the pharmaceutical industry was a reason for the increase. The reduction of the manufacturer discount is regulated by law. Several insurers had called for measures to curb the increase in drug sales. However, the high prices of original preparations are also responsible for the increase in costs. According to statistics services provider Insight Health, the top ten top-selling drugs accounted for more than 10 percent of total pharmacy sales in 2014. (Ad)