Spike seen in patients with costly medication

More than a half-million US patients had medication costs in excess of $50,000 in 2014, an increase of 63 percent from the prior year, as doctors prescribed more expensive specialty drugs for diseases such as cancer and hepatitis C, according to a report released on Wednesday.

Of the estimated 575,000 US citizens who used at least $50,000 in prescription medicines last year, about 139,000 used at least $100,000 worth of medication, nearly triple the 47,000 who met that mark in 2013, said the report from Express Scripts, the largest US pharmacy benefit manager.

The total cost to health plans for US patients with prescription drug expenses in excess of $50,000 was $52 billion in 2014, Express Scripts said in its report Super Spending: Trends in High-Cost Medication Use.