Report Finds Mobic Price Increase Linked to Rise in Prescriptions, Ads

Prescriptions for pain treatment Mobic have more than doubled since the withdrawal of competing drug Vioxx, according to an analysis by advocacy group Consumers Union, which also concluded that Mobic's price is rising faster than most products in the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) class.

Jointly marketed by Abbott Laboratories and Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Mobic (meloxicam) has picked up much of the market slack created by the absence of Vioxx (rofecoxib), which Pfizer pulled from the market last September after studies linked the painkiller to increased risks of heart attack and stroke. Mobic prescriptions rose from 314,000 in September 2004 to 742,000 in March 2005, an increase of 136 percent, according to "The NSAID Drugs: Prescriptions and Prices," a Consumers Union report based on data from NDCHealth.

"Mobic's sharp rise illustrates one of the persistent problems we have in constraining prescription drug costs -- the powerful impact of drug advertising and marketing," said Steven Findlay, managing editor of Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs and author of the analysis. "Doctors and consumers are unquestionably swayed by the ads and promotions for costly new medicines, even when lower-cost options that are just as effective are available."

Abbott and Boehringer Ingelheim employed an aggressive direct-to-consumer marketing campaign for Mobic following Vioxx's withdrawal, including full-page print advertisements in major newspapers that included coupons good for free supplies of the drug.

To view Consumers Union's report, go to ()a href="http://www.crbestbuydrugs.org/PDFs/NSAIDrelease-June2.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.crbestbuydrugs.org/PDFs/NSAIDrelease-June2.pdf.