the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Nov 23, 2009
Average prescription drug prices went up 5½% this year. Brand name drugs went up by almost 9% and specialty drugs by about 10%.
These are the biggest price increases in years. The average annual cost of a brand name maintenance drug is now more than $2000. The increases will bring in an extra 10 billion dollars for the drug companies next year–more than the eight billion dollar reduction in intended price increases that the companies promised for next year as their contribution to health care “reform.”
The price increases plus extra grants built into the “reform” recently caused a leading industry trade group to raise its estimate of drug industry income over the next four years by 137 billion dollars.
While most people will pay more for their drugs, the drug companies are going to get high on increased profits.