Prescription drugs are an increasingly important part of health care, accounting for a growing share of health care spending. Patients' access to prescription drugs can be affected by a variety of public policies, as well as by the behavior of physicians, insurers and drug manufacturers. The papers in this session address different issues in prescription drug markets.

Paper 1 reports on the extent to which US physicians treating bipolar disorder customize their prescribing, an issue with implications for both cost and outcomes.

Paper 2 examines the contribution of indirect taxation on drugs to the out-of-pocket burden borne by patients.

Paper 3 discusses current reform of pharmaceutical policy in China, including a plan for state procurement of those medicines deemed essential.