US independent pharmacies boom

Prescription sales revenue of US independent pharmacies grew 18% in 2000to account for 83% ($1.9 million) of their total average sales, according to new data from the National Community Pharmacists Association.

Independent pharmacies also experienced an 18% rise in their overall sales growth last year, it adds, and the number of prescriptions dispensed annually by the average independent pharmacy grew 6.9%, or 3,283 prescriptions per pharmacy surveyed, to 50,711. Overall, independents dispensed 1.26 billion prescriptions last year, which is 44% of the total 2.84 billion retail prescriptions dispensed in the USA last year.