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Article: No quick fixes for the spiraling costs of prescription drugs; Increases of 14.4 percent are likely this year. A key to reining in costs lies with educating both doctor and patient.(The Insider)
- Article from:
- Workforce Management
- Article date:
- August 1, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Crain Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Samuel Greengard
At about $10 per dose, Viagra isn't cheap. But that isn't stopping consumers from making the drug, which is used for erectile dysfunction, a runaway best seller. Today, many insurance plans cover the expense of the drug-along with other so-called "lifestyle enhancing" medications for problems ranging from male-pattern baldness to wrinkles. Combine these drugs with a new wave of ultra-expensive biotech drugs designed to treat everything from epilepsy to cancer, and it isn't difficult to understand why some industry observers are sounding the alarm. Prescription-drug costs have climbed at a steady double-digit rate for the last decade. ...