The prices of some brand-name medicines have risen to an unprecedented level in the last year in America, creating serious economic problems for patients. For a large number of drugs that do not yet have a generic equivalent, costs rose in 2010 by 10% and more, which is more than they have on an annual basis over the past five years. This was revealed by a survey by MarketScan which mentions, among the best known products, the anti-cholesterol atorvastatin by Pfizer, which rose to +11.4%, the antipsychotic quetiapine by AstraZeneca to +16.5% and the anticoagulant clopidogrel by Bristol-Myers which recorded a price increase above 10%. According to the experts, these are "unprecedented and unsustainable" increases, also triggered by the fact that many of these medicines are about to lose their exclusivity. In less than a year, much less expensive equivalent medicines will be on the US market, in direct competition with "branded" medicines. According to Nancy Stalker, vice president of the US health company "Blue Shield", "many pharmaceutical companies are trying to make as much money as possible with brand-name medicines by incredibly increasing prices precisely in view of the arrival of the same products in generic form".
Pharmacist33 – 28 March 2011
Nancy Stalker, vice president of pharmacy services
