Prices for Prescription Medicines Rose How Much Last Year? / ED SILVERMAN

The prices of prescription medicines is a front-and-center issue as the cost to treat everything from some of the rarest diseases to the most common afflictions is causing increasing concern among payers, physicians and consumers. 

 But how much exactly did prices rise last year?

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 A new analysis indicates prices rose significantly across the board for all types of medicines. Overall, prices for brand, generic and specialty drugs combined increased 10.9% in 2014 from the year before, according to Truveris, a research firm that tracks drug pricing. The firm analyzed more than 300 million payments to U.S. pharmacies for prescriptions and developed an index based on price and utilization. 

While the firm found that prices rose across all therapeutic classes, medicines for some ailments rose considerably. Using a composite calculation of brand, generic and specialty drugs, Truveris says that medicines for treating muscle pain and stiffness climbed 29.8%, while salves for inflammation jumped 26.6%, and drugs to combat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease rose 23%. 

 Breaking it down by category, prices for brand-name drug rose 14.8%, specialty drug prices increased 9.7% and generic medicines climbed 4.9%. Although much of the controversy over rising prices has focused on drugs for cancer and hepatitis C, increased costs for generics comes as a surprise since these medicines have traditionally been seen as a low-cost antidote to more expensive brand-name drugs.(Más)