Drug rises three times inflation rate
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.