Drug prices climb Increases outpace inflation: AARP

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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/07/01/BUG297EMDH1.DTL

Prices of drugs commonly used by people older than 50 increased far faster

than inflation in the first quarter of the year, a period just after

President Bush signed the Medicare drug benefit law, according to a study

released Wednesday by the AARP.

The study found that prices drugmakers charged to wholesalers for the 197

brand-name medications used most frequently by older Americans rose 3.4

percent during the three-month period ending March 31, much higher than the

1. 2 percent annual inflation rate registered during the same period. ...

The largest price hikes during the first three months of the year were 9. 9

percent for a pain medication called Duragesic, 9.5 percent for cholesterol-

lowering Lescol and 9.4 percent for inhalers Combivent and Atrovent,

according to the AARP report.

Two drug manufacturers, Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb, had 12 of the top

25 selling drugs in the study, and all reported price increases.

The price of Pfizer's popular cholesterol-lowering drug, Lipitor, rose by

2.9 percent or 4.6 percent, depending on the dosage. Bristol-Myers Squibb's

Plavix, a blood thinner, increased 7.9 percent in price. ...