Most-used drugs in USA saw average price hikes of 7.4% in 2007, says AARP

Pharmaceutical companies in the USA raised prices for 220 branded prescription medicines most commonly used by people in Medicare Part D an average 7.4% in 2007, according to the findings of a survey by AARP, the association which represents retired Americans. The rise was nearly two and a half times that of inflation in the country, and slightly greater than these were before the Medicare drug benefit was implemented in 2006, when prices advanced annually at 5.3%-6.6%.

Commenting on similar findings from a market research group, Lehman Brothers analyst Lawrence Marsh noted that price hikes for 21 of the 132 biggest-selling drugs in the USA increased a median 7.5%, pointing out that this was both the largest number of increases and the highest average in at least five years.

Biggest rise, 27.7%, was for Ambien