US public "blames drug firms for high prices"

Most Americans believe that new drugs have improved their quality oflife and that high US prices essentially finance global pharmaceutical R&D. However, they also feel that drugs should be cheaper and more widely available, especially to seniors, a conference organized by JP Morgan H&Q in San Francisco has heard.

Carl Seiden, a pharmaceutical analyst with the broker, said prescription drugs now account for 8% of totall US health care costs, up from 5.4% in 1990, but this is due to increased utilization, with prices rising only 2%-4% in the decade, reports Reuters Health.

Nevertheless, said Medicis chief executive Jonah Shacknai, "consumers hate health plans, they hate drug companies and they hate the government. All three are involved in this debate, but if there is a whipping boy, it's the drug companies." Leonard Schaeffer, chairman and chief executive of WellPoint Health Networks, felt the public debate on the drug pricing issue could go on for five years, and added that drugmakers will have difficulty holding onto windfall profits when baby boomers are demanding access to more drugs.