Report: Czechs buy more expensive drugs

Czechs spent on average some 5,500 crowns, or around 280 US dollars, on medical drugs in 2009, the highest amount ever, according to a government report released on Saturday. The report also registered a decrease in the number of packages sold. The State Institute for Drug Control said Czechs began buying modern, more expensive medicaments. The institute also said that the number of new pharmacies that opened in the Czech Republic last year decreased, with around 2,300 pharmacies working in the country.