Report: Brand Name Drug Prices Increased Faster Than Inflation

Brand name prescription drug prices increased four times faster than inflation last year, according to AARP’s latest drug pricing report.

The association’s Rx Price Watch series measured retail prices for 267 brand name prescription drugs widely used by older patients and found that they jumped by 8.4 percent in 2017, quadruple the 2.1 percent general inflation rate during the same timeframe.

The report — which covers the period 2006 to 2017 — shows that drug prices rise or fall without any correlation to inflation. From 2011 to 2014, for example, inflation trended downwards while the prices of the branded drugs increased steadily.

“Drug prices are increasing in a manner that can’t be explained by the larger economy,” an AARP spokesperson told FDAnews.