Report: Prescription Drug Prices Hiked

U.S. consumer advocates say prescription drug prices in the year’s first quarter shot up, just as a generous Medicare medicine plan went into effect.

AARP said prices charged by pharmaceuticals for brand-name medicine rose 3.9 percent, four times the general inflation rate during the first three months of this year and the largest quarterly price increase in six years, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

The AARP conclusions mirror a separate report from Families USA, a patient advocacy group that found similar trends among brand-name drug prices.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association said in a statement that such accusations are erroneous, because consumer drug prices had increased less than 2 percent since Jan. 1. However, PRMA reached its conclusions by combining prices for brand-name and cheaper generic drugs, as well as various medical supplies.