AARP's Watchdog Tracks Drug Prices, Industry Actions
By: Source: AARP Bulletin Today Date Posted: 2004-06-10 17:24:00-04:00
Price increases for about 200 popular brand-name prescription drugs were more than three times the rate of inflation last year, according to a recent study reported in Watchdog, AARP's new investigative series on the pharmaceutical industry.
The first Watchdog newsletter for the public, available online, reports on a study by AARP's Public Policy Institute that analyzed changes in the drug manufacturers' prices to wholesalers in the period 2000 to 2003.
While price increases for these brand-name drugs were slightly above the rate of inflation in 2000, that gap continued to widen over the next three years until prices were dramatically higher than the 2003 inflation rate.
In these periodic reports, AARP will act as the public's watchdog. "We will follow the activities of the industry," says John Rother, director of public policy, "from price increases to advertising campaigns—that affect the affordability of prescription drugs."
In a recent letter to the CEOs of all the major pharmaceutical companies, AARP CEO Bill Novelli called on the companies to limit their price increases to no more than the rate of inflation. Through Watchdog, Rother says, "we hope to keep pressure on the industry so it will act responsibly."
Watchdog reports also will monitor the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, both practically and politically.
"We want to track consumer knowledge and satisfaction with the new Medicare drug discount cards," Rother says. "And we want to track the drug industry's political contributions and see whether those are having an impact on congressional decisions."
Watchdog also will report on the effectiveness of popular prescription drugs—both brand name and generic—as well as post updates on legislation and court cases that could help lower the cost of prescription drugs.
"Watchdog is part of our whole effort to keep the new Medicare drug benefit affordable—both for consumers and for taxpayers," Rother says.
AARP's table of 200 prescription drug price increases will be updated quarterly to allow consumers to monitor price increase changes and to see which manufacturers are raising their prices and by how much.
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