Drug makers raising prices at fastest rate ever

Courtesy of NY Times

Even as drug makers promise to support Washington’s health care overhaul by shaving $8 billion a year off the nation’s drug costs after the legislation takes effect, the industry has been raising its prices at the fastest rate in years. In the last year, the industry has raised the wholesale prices of brand-name prescription drugs by about 9 percent, according to industry analysts. That will add more than $10 billion to the nation’s drug bill, which is on track to exceed $300 billion this year. By at least one analysis, it is the highest annual rate of inflation for drug prices since 1992.

The drug trend is distinctly at odds with the direction of the Consumer Price Index, which has fallen by 1.3 percent in the last year. Drug makers say they have valid business reasons for the price increases. Critics say the industry is trying to establish a higher price base before Congress passes legislation that tries to curb drug spending in coming years.

This year’s price increases would effectively cancel out the savings from at least the first year of the Senate Finance agreement. And some critics say the surge in drug prices could change the dynamics of the entire 10-year deal. “It makes it much easier for the drug companies to pony up the $80 billion because they’ll be making more money,” said Steven D. Findlay, senior health care analyst with the advocacy group Consumers Union.

Steve - this is what happens when you have "financialized medicine." Drug companies are tied to Wall Street and their stocks take a beating if they cannot continually increase prices. This is their only recourse because Big Pharma is inordinately bloated, yet refuses to find ways to be more efficient (aside from mergers and layoffs). So the only industries in the United States who are raising their prices in a recession are the drug makers and health insurance providers. How can we not consider this criminal when you are dealing with products that many people's lives depend on?