Some Drug Prices Surging 100 Percent Or More

While consumers have been focused on the rising cost of gasoline, another cost has been going up even faster -- the price of some prescription medicine.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota report some drug companies have raised prices by 100 percent or more, and as a result are driving up the costs of many health insurance premiums and government programs.

For example, researchers say Questcor Pharmaceuticals has increase the price of Acthar from about $1,650 per vial to more than $23,000. The drug is used to treat spasms in infants.

Ovation Pharmaceuticals raised the price of its drug, Cosmegen, from $16.79 to $593.75. Cosmegen is used to treat certain types of tumors.

According to the study, the average wholesale price of 26 drugs increased more than 100 percent last year. Healthcare officials say hospitals either have to eat the costs, or pass them on to health insurers and patients.

Many of the drugs are older drugs, which may explain their costs. The drug companies told researchers that it was costly to keep the drugs on the market, especially when there is declining demand.

So far, that explanation hasn't gone over well in Congress. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) has asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to look into the huge price hikes. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) has petitioned the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to look into Ovation and its recent significant hikes in drug prices.

SOURCE: University of Minnesota