Price of popular drugs rose 26%, AARP says

The prices of drugs used most widely by older Americans rose by nearly 26 percent from 2005 to 2009—nearly twice the rate of inflation—according to a report issued Tuesday by AARP. The increase happened even as the price of generic drugs, which account for the vast majority of prescriptions, has been falling in recent years, the report found. "At a time when our country is contracting economically and inflation is really, really low, inflation in the cost of prescription drugs is going in the other direction," said Cheryl Matheis, the senior vice president for policy strategy at AARP.