Congress Eyes Review of Rapidly Rising Drug Costs

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America Senior Vice President Ken Johnson said in a statement that the GAO report focused "only on a small number of selected brand medicines rather than the entire prescription drug market." When looking at recently released national healthcare spending data for 2008, a sharp decline in retail prescription drug spending growth occurred—"leaving medicines as one of the slower growing areas of healthcare expenditures," he said.

Last month, Health and Human Services Inspector General Daniel Levinson agreed to a request from Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) to look into charges that 96% of wholesale prices of brand name prescription drugs were sharply increased in anticipation of healthcare reform. The investigation will look at how high prices are impacting Medicare and Medicaid.