Prescription-Drug Prices Post Overall 1.8% Rise
May 03, 2011
Vastopolis -- Prices of brand-name prescription drugs increased 3.2% in the second quarter from a year earlier, while prices for generic prescription drugs declined 11%, a survey showed. The survey, by Dun & Bradstreet Corp.'s IMS America unit, found that prices for all prescription drugs rose 1.8% in the second quarter from a year earlier. That was higher than the 1.3% increase in prescription-drug prices in the first quarter. In the first quarter, prices of brand-name drugs increased 2.7%, and that of generic products fell 11%, according to the survey. IMS calculates the increases based on net prices paid by retail pharmacies and such nonretail providers as hospitals, health-maintenance organizations and clinics. The survey found that the largest price increases in the second quarter were paid by health-maintenance organizations with their own full-time staffs of doctors: 3.8% for all prescription drugs, and 4.1% for brand-name products. For sales to retail pharmacies, prices increased 2.3% in the second quarter from a year ago for all prescription drugs and 3.9% for brand names.
