Drugs for Elderly More Costly, Study Finds

Drugmakers increased prices by an average of 7.4 percent last year for the brand-name medicines most commonly prescribed to the elderly, according to the advocacy group AARP.

The increase far exceeded inflation, continuing a longtime trend.

AARP said prices charged to wholesalers have been slightly higher since the Medicare drug benefit started on Jan. 1, 2006. Since then, the outcry over prices has diminished, with the government picking up much of the tab.

"Unfortunately, many manufacturers have taken the absence of an outcry as a green light to go ahead and raise prices even more," said John Rother, AARP's policy director.