US state seniors Rx costs compared globally

Uninsured seniors in the US state of Rhode Island pay on average 78%more for their five most widely-used brand-name prescription drugs than do the elderly in other industrialized nations such as Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK, says a study commissioned by RI Congressman Jim Langevin. The study found that:

- a month's supply of Takeda/TAP's proton pump inhibitor Prevacid (lansoprazole) costs $48.62 in Canada, 140% less than the RI price of $116.54; - a month's supply of AstraZeneca's antiulcer drug Prilosec (omeprazole) costs $29.40 in Italy, while an uninsured RI senior pays $115.11, 292% more; - Pharmacia/Pfizer's COX 2 inhibitor Celebrex (celecoxib) costs $77.19 in RI, 147% more than the French price of $31.20; - Merck & Co's statin Zocor (simavastin) costs the US senior over $480 more for one year's supply than in Canada; and - the price of a year's Pfizer's cholesterol reducer Lipitor (atorvastatin) is over $375 lower in France.