America's Health Held Hostage

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in the United States; the average price rose 7.4% on over 13,000 brand name drugs last year alone. A few of the major ones: Pfizer's, Lipitor, cholesterol blockbuster rose 12.4 percent, Plavix, the blood thinner sold by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis climbed 13.2 percent, Johnson & Johnson's ADD drug, Concerta, moved up 19.7 percent the, cancer treatment, Gleevec, marketed by Novartis jumped 20.9 percent, and Benicar, sold by Daiichi Sankyo rose whopping 29.3 percent! The drug companies excuse for these price hikes? That it is necessary to keep the drugs on the market and that they are less costly than other alternatives like surgery or high tech medications. However, some drug makers say these price hikes are misleading, stating the hikes fail to account for rebates given. Some manufacturers have said that pricing can have a slightly negative impact on revenue when rebates and discounts are considered. Suggestively, however, most manufacturers refused to disclose how ...

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