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Prices Of Most Popular Drugs For Senior Citizens
Rose
Nearly Three-And-One-Half Times The Rate Of Inflation Last
Year
July 11, 2003 --The prices of the 50
most-prescribed drugs to senior citizens rose, on average, nearly
three-and-one-half times the rate of inflation last year, according to
a new report released this week by Families USA, the national
organization for health care consumers.
(Click Here to view chart of drug
prices over several years.)
Among the top 50 drugs sold to
seniors, more than half (27) rose in price at least three times the
rate of inflation from January 2002 to January 2003, according to the
report. Nearly three-quarters (37 out of 50) of the drugs rose in
price at least one-and-one-half times the rate of inflation. The drugs
that experienced the fastest-growing price increases in the past year
were the following:
Claritin,
an antihistamine, rose nearly 12 times the rate of inflation.
Klor-Con
10, a potassium replacement, rose more than 11 times the rate of
inflation.
Miacalcin,
an osteoporosis treatment, rose more than 10 times the rate of
inflation.
Premarin,
an estrogen replacement, rose nearly 10 times the rate of inflation.
Atenolol,
a generic beta-blocker, rose more than 9 times the rate of inflation.
Toprol XL,
a beta blocker, rose more than 9 times the rate of inflation.
"These
alarming price increases continue to eat away at the fixed incomes of
senior citizens, especially those low-income seniors who make up
one-third of those in Medicare and who can least afford to pay for
their medicines," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families
USA.
The report also revealed that the
following brand-name drugs were the six drugs most frequently
prescribed drugs to seniors: Lipitor ($871 annual cost), Norvasc ($549
per year), Fosamax ($894 per year), Plavix ($1,539 per year), Prilosec
($1,684 per year), and Celebrex ($2,102 per year).
Among the top 50 drugs sold to
seniors, the report found that 38 were on the market for at least five
years. Of these, more than three-quarters (29 out of 38) rose in price
two or more times the rate of inflation, and over one-third (13 out of
38) increased in price four or more times the rate of inflation during
this five-year period.
"Year after year, as drug prices rise
much faster than inflation, more and more seniors are forced to go
without much-needed medications," said Pollack. "The millions of
low-income seniors, who subsist on Social Security checks that rise no
faster than inflation, can no longer afford skyrocketing drug prices.
Congress must act now to provide real relief to them."
Of the 50 top
prescribed drugs, the most expensive as of January 2003, were the
following:
Combivent, which
treats asthma and other respiratory conditions, costs $10,868 per
year.
Miacalcin, an
osteoporosis treatment, costs $7,132 per year.
Celebrex, an
anti-inflammatory/analgesic, costs $2,102 per year.
The Families USA study compared last
year's price increases for generic versus brand-name drugs. It found
that 15 of the top 50 drugs sold to seniors were generic drugs, and 35
were brand-name drugs. On average, prices for generics rose by 2.6
percent, and prices for brand-name drugs rose by 7.1 percent-almost
three times as quickly. Nine of the 15 generic drugs did not increase
in price last year, while only three of the 35 brand-name drugs did
not increase in price.
"The bill that recently passed the
Senate can provide significant relief for the millions of low-income
seniors most in need of help," said Pollack. "Unfortunately, the
opposite is true about the House-passed bill, which provides very
meager help for low-income seniors and will keep drugs unaffordable."
This report was compiled from data
provided by the Pennsylvania Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for
the Elderly (PACE) program, the largest outpatient prescription drug
program for older Americans in the United States. Using PACE claims
for 2002, Families USA, with assistance from the PRIME Institute at
the University of Minnesota, identified the 50 top-selling
prescription drugs used by senior citizens.
For a copy of the report please visit
our web site at
www.familiesusa.org.
For a pdf copy of
the 28-page report –
Click Here
Families USA is the
national health care organization for health care consumers. It is
nonprofit and nonpartisan and advocates for high-quality, affordable
health care for all Americans. |
