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Study: Seniors' Drug
Prices Tripled
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By JANELLE CARTER, Associated
Press Writer
Mon Jun 24, 5:22 PM
ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -
The prices of the 50 most prescribed drugs for
older Americans rose, on average, at almost
triple the overall rate of inflation last year,
a study says.
The
liberal consumer advocacy group Families USA
released the report in advance of the House debate
scheduled to start Wednesday on a Republican-backed
bill that would spend $310 billion over 10 years to
provide seniors with a prescription drug benefit.
"Prescription drugs for seniors are becoming
increasingly unaffordable," said Ron Pollack, Family
USA's executive director. "Some of the most popular
drugs increased at intervals of eight and nine
times."
Jeff Trewitt, a spokesman for the Pharmaceutical
Research and Manufacturers of America, the
industry's trade group, said the report was
misleading.
"The report completely ignores the fact that retail
prices vary widely among pharmacies in a single
community," Trewitt said. "Retail prices of the same
medicine can vary by more than 100 percent within a
few city blocks. It is essential we correct the
notion that all elderly patients pay the same price
for the same drug."
Besides, Trewitt said, "the pharmaceutical price tag
is almost always far cheaper than the cost of
surgery and hospitalization."
According to the report, the drugs Demadex, a
diuretic, and Premarin, an estrogen replacement
drug, both rose 17.8 percent, almost seven times the
rate of inflation last year.
Plavix, an anti-clotting drug, rose 16.8 percent,
more than six times the inflation rate, while the
cholesterol-lowering Lipitor rose five times the rate of
inflation.
The
report used data from Pennsylvania's state-run
prescription drug program for the elderly, those 65
and older, to develop the list of the 50 top-selling
drugs. Price histories were then obtained from a
database published by Medi-Span/Facts and
Comparisons.
The
rate of inflation used in the report, 2.7 percent,
is for January 2001 to January 2002 and excludes
highly volatile energy and food prices.
"There is no reasonable basis for these alarming
price increases, which continue to make prescription
drugs unaffordable for too many seniors," Pollack
said.
The
study found that 10 of the 50 most-prescribed drugs
for seniors are generics. The average annual price
for those drugs was $375. Nine of those drugs did
not increase in price at all.
The
other 40 most prescribed drugs are brand-name
medications with an average annual price of $1,106.
Only three of the brand-name drugs did not increase
in price last year.
Pollack said the study showed that "generics are not
only cheaper, but they are generally rising in price
at much slower rates than brand-name drugs."
The
rapid rise in prices means that even if Congress
passes a prescription drug benefit, it may
eventually be too costly even for the government,
Pollack said.
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