Drug rises three times inflation rate

Pfizer, Merck & Co and other drugmakers raised prices by an average 6.9% for the 200 most commonly prescribed brand-name medicines last year, more than three times the rate of inflation, according to a report.

US inflation was 2.2% in 2003. Pfizer increased the wholesale price for its Lipitor 10mg cholesterol pill by an average 6% a year from 2000 to 2003, the report by the consumer group AARP showed.

The cost of Merck’s Fosamax osteoporosis medicine, the primary seller among Americans aged 50 and older, grew by an average 5.6% annually. Drug costs have emerged as a 2004 political campaign issue.