....Small Rise In Drug Prices

Average drug price increases for all prescription products in the USA were only slightly higher in the first quarter of this year compared to the like, year-earlier period, according to the First Quarter Drug Price Report from First DataBank, which noted that the average price increase in the first quarter was 1.1%, compared with 0.9% in 1994.

Nevertheless, this year's drug prices mark the first upturn in the rate of increase for any first quarter in the last five years. Increases for single source products, the only category analyzed in the report which did not move from last year's low rate of increase, mirrored last year's first quarter at 1.1%. Multiple source products moved up from 0.9% to 1.1%. Branded products available from multiple sources had an increase of 1.5% during 1995's first quarter compared with 1% in 1994 and 1.9% in 1993. All three periods showed slower increases than the 3% seen in 1992 and 3.3% in 1991. Generic products had a slight upturn, from 0.8% to 1%.

Products from the top 25 companies followed the general slight upward trend of drug price increases in this quarter, but were still lower than the same period in previous years. Prices in this category increased 1.2% in the first quarter of 1995 compared with 0.7% in the like, 1994 period. Both represent slower increases than the 2.4% registered in 1992.