CNN on drug prices

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9902/19/pricey.prescriptions.ap/

Painful prices -- Drug costs are rising quickly
February 19, 1999
AP



WASHINGTON (AP) -- Patients and insurance companies are facing sticker
shock as the nation's bill for prescription drugs rapidly jumps -- one
new arthritis medicine just debuted with a $12,000-a-year price tag. 

Double-digit increases in drug spending are hitting even those with
insurance, as managed-care companies hunt ways to offset pricey
prescriptions. One new trend: Patients who pay $5 for a generic drug and
$10 for an older brand name are about to be charged $25, $30, even $50
if they want the newest, costliest drugs. 

[snip]
                
Spending for prescription drugs has passed $80 billion annually,
increasing by 11 percent to 14 percent every year since 1995. 


[snip] 
This country has to figure a way for most people to gain access to these
developments," added Peggy Phillips of Immunex Corp., which created
Enbrel for rheumatoid arthritis and defends its $12,000 price tag
because it is expensive to make and helps patients who failed
alternative therapies. 


[snip]