AMA Refuses to Support Ban on Prescription Drug Ads
From the AP/Las Vegas Sun:
Tuesday, the AMA refused to back a ban onprescription drug ads, despite rising concerns about the dangers ofcertain heavily marketed painkillers and antidepressants.
Of the 30 brand-name drugs most frequently used by the elderly, all but four have been on the market for over three years. The prices of those 26 drugs increased, on average, by 3.6 times the rate of inflation, or 21.6 percent, from January 2001 to January 2004. Inflation for the same period was 6 percent. Of these 26 drugs:
- One increased in price by 9.4 times the rate of inflation, which represented a 56.3 percent price increase over three years.
- Over two-thirds (18 of the 26 drugs) had price increases of three or more times the rate of inflation during the three-year period.
- All but one, Norvasc (10 mg.), increased by more than two times the rate of inflation.
Drug companies’ spending on direct-to-consumer advertising increased over 800% from 1995 to 2003.