Drug prices climb, sometimes enormously

Washington -- Brand name drug prices rose 7.4 percent in 2007, but some U.S. drug prices have jumped more than 1,000 percent, researchers said.

A University of Minnesota study found wholesale prices of 26 brand-name drugs doubled during one-time markups in 2007, USA Today reported Friday.

Some lesser-known drugs have made enormous price leaps. Questcor Pharmaceuticals raised the price for anti-spasm drug Acthar, prescribed to babies, from $1,650 to $23,000 a vial, last year, the report said.

Questcor's Web site said it did so after years of efforts to stay "financially viable."

Others are suspicious. "Some companies seem to figure no one is watching," Stephen Schondelmeyer, director of the PRIME Institute at the University of Minnesota, told the newspaper.

Two U.S. senators have asked regulators to investigate.

Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., asked the Government Accountability Office to look into drug price hikes, the report said.
In April, Klobuchar requested the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Ovation Pharmaceuticals Inc., which raised prices 3,437 percent on four products in 2006, the newspaper reported.

Ovation said it needed to cover operating expenses. "We feel we made an important investment in keeping these older products alive," said company spokeswoman Sally Benjamin Young.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.