Sunday, November 29, 2009

By Stuart Chaifetz

There’s been a lot in the news recently regarding Pharmaceutical companies and related issues, so, instead of focusing on one specific story, this time I am going to hit a few at a time.
I’ve written a lot about Big Pharma and their business practices. In this story from the NY Times, November 15, “Drug Makers Raise Prices in Face of Health Care Reform” we see how Big Pharma is preparing for health care reform by socking consumers with major hikes in prices.
“In the last year, the industry has raised the wholesale prices of brand-name prescription drugs by about 9 percent, according to industry analysts. That will add more than $10 billion to the nation’s drug bill, which is on track to exceed $300 billion this year. By at least one analysis, it is the highest annual rate of inflation for drug prices since 1992.”