April 4, 2012
Shots - NPR's Health Blog
By Julie Rovner
U.S. spending on prescription drugs grew just barely in 2011, according to the annual report from IMS Health, which keeps track of these things.
But the reason for the barely discernible increase of 0.5 percent, to $320 billion, was not the expected one. Read more
Patent wars: has India taken on Big Pharma and won?
Wed, 15 May 2013U.S. prescription drug spending drops for first time in 58 years
Fri, 10 May 2013We The People vs. The Pharmaceutical Industry
Mon, 29 Apr 2013Doctors Denounce Cancer Drug Prices of $100,000 a Year
Fri, 26 Apr 2013Britain Accuses Drug Maker of Conspiring With Rivals
Fri, 19 Apr 2013Take Action for Lower Drug Costs
Wed, 10 Apr 2013Big Pharma Pockets $711 Billion in Profits by Robbing Seniors, Taxpayers
Tue, 9 Apr 2013Bioethicist: Drug makers should focus on affordability, not preserving patents
Sat, 6 Apr 2013Manufacturing Consent: Pharma Lobbying Letter to Congress Lists Opponents as Supporters
Fri, 5 Apr 2013Do drugs really have to be so expensive?
Fri, 29 Mar 2013Feds Target American (Not International) Pharmacies in Prescription Narcotic Crackdown
Fri, 22 Mar 2013State Savings with an Efficient Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit
Wed, 20 Mar 2013Maine Legislation Aims To Facilitate Personal Drug Importation To Lower Costs
Fri, 15 Mar 2013Lawmakers: A common-sense approach to reining in drug costs
Tue, 5 Mar 2013Inside medicine: High drug costs
Thu, 28 Feb 2013Medicare drug costs to fall in 2014, but donut hole widens
Fri, 22 Feb 2013OPINION: Big Pharma's stranglehold on Washington
Tue, 12 Feb 2013HHS report: Medicare prescription drug savings hit $5.7B
Thu, 7 Feb 2013Let The Sunshine In: CMS Releases Transparency Rule
Fri, 1 Feb 2013Vermont Lawmaker Moves to Repeal Protection for Drug Maker
Thu, 24 Jan 2013US prescription drug spending rose 2.9% in 2011, says govt
Wed, 16 Jan 2013Many doctors prescribe more-pricey drugs than needed, study finds
Mon, 7 Jan 2013Questcor Finds Profits, at $28,000 a Vial
Sat, 5 Jan 2013Bereavement, Depression & Happy Drugmakers
Fri, 28 Dec 2012Portland: Canadian drugs would save us millions
Fri, 14 Dec 2012Justices to Take Up Generic Drug Case
Mon, 10 Dec 2012How Drug Company Money is Undermining Science
Wed, 21 Nov 2012Obama's re-elected. So what's next for pharma?
Wed, 7 Nov 2012Generic Viagra Industry Is Pro-Choice In Payments
Fri, 26 Oct 2012Pharma vs India: a case of life or death for the world’s poor
Thu, 18 Oct 2012Medication Costs The Number One Reason People Skip Meds, According to Pharmacists
Fri, 12 Oct 2012Drug Coupons: A Good Deal For The Patient, But Not The Insurer
Tue, 2 Oct 2012MT: Governor seeks pilot program for cheaper drugs for state employees
Wed, 5 Sep 2012Online Pharmacy or Discount Card? The Choice Isn’t So Clear
Sat, 25 Aug 2012Consumer calls drug prices in America “Extortion”
Mon, 13 Aug 2012Pharmaceutical companies putting health of world's poor at risk
Thu, 26 Jul 2012Anemia drugs made billions, but at what cost?
Fri, 20 Jul 2012Letting Big Pharma Review Its Own Drugs — What Could Go Wrong?
Wed, 11 Jul 2012GlaxoSmithKline to pay $3 billion healthcare fraud settlement, U.S. says
Mon, 2 Jul 2012Wis. Supreme Court upholds damages in drug lawsuit
Sat, 23 Jun 2012Rockefeller expands efforts to address prescription drug price gouging
Fri, 15 Jun 2012Lobby E-Mails Show Depth of Obama Ties to Drug Industry
Fri, 8 Jun 2012Insurers forcing patients to pay more for costly specialty drugs
Wed, 30 May 2012A Global Health Care Remedy – Why We Must Fix High Drug Prices
Tue, 22 May 2012‘Radical’ bill seeks to reduce cost of AIDS drugs by awarding prizes instead of patents
Mon, 21 May 2012Funding R&D: High Prices, Overuse A Failed Strategy
Mon, 14 May 2012Retired Couples May Need $240,000 for Health Care
Wed, 9 May 2012The Wrong Way to Stop Fake Drugs
Mon, 23 Apr 2012Idaho settles GlaxoSmithKline case
Fri, 20 Apr 2012J.&J. Fined $1.2 Billion in Drug Case
Thu, 12 Apr 2012Drug Spending Levels Off, But Not For The Usual Reasons
Thu, 5 Apr 2012High co-pays linked to increased health risks for kids with asthma
Wed, 28 Mar 2012Inside America’s Drug Shortage
Tue, 20 Mar 2012India Orders Bayer to License a Patented Drug
Tue, 13 Mar 2012State court to examine ‘pay-for-delay’ deals by drugmakers
Sat, 3 Mar 2012The Fiction Behind The Cost of New Drugs
Mon, 20 Feb 2012The Drug Shortage Crisis in America
Tue, 14 Feb 2012Most Docs Say Pharma Ties Should Be Disclosed
Thu, 9 Feb 2012Health law delivers $2.1 billion in savings on drugs for seniors
Fri, 3 Feb 2012The High Price of New Cancer Drugs
Tue, 24 Jan 2012J. & J. to Pay $158 Million to End Suit Filed by Texas
Fri, 20 Jan 2012U.S. to Force Drug Firms to Report Money Paid to Doctors
Tue, 17 Jan 2012CVS Caremark Settles Charges Over Prescription Prices
Thu, 12 Jan 2012Myth Versus Reality: Promoting A Pricey Gout Pill
Fri, 6 Jan 2012Shortages of important drugs mean big problems for thousands of U.S. patients
Thu, 5 Jan 2012Stopping the Stop Online Piracy Act
Fri, 30 Dec 2011An MS Patient Loses Trust When She Finds Out Her Doctor Is Paid By Drug Companies
Fri, 16 Dec 2011Dr. Kate Scannell: The high cost of our prescription drug shortage
Sun, 11 Dec 2011Pfizer Pioneers New Ways to Frustrate Generics
Mon, 5 Dec 2011Majority of Seniors Postpone Doctor Visits Due to Financial Concerns
Wed, 30 Nov 2011Merck to pay $950 million to settle Vioxx investigation
Wed, 23 Nov 2011Buying Prescription Drugs Online?
Tue, 22 Nov 2011Those Prescription Drug Prices Keep On Rising
Thu, 17 Nov 2011CBO Says Pay To Delay Bill Can Save $4.8 Billion
Wed, 9 Nov 2011Is the Era of Off-Label Promotion Over?
Mon, 7 Nov 2011Obama orders FDA to help ease drug shortages
Mon, 31 Oct 2011Ending drug companies’ pay-for-delay deals
Thu, 27 Oct 2011Why Do Americans Need Greater Access to Safe International Online Pharmacies?
Thu, 20 Oct 2011Sen. Chuck Schumer seeks end to drugs' 'gray market'
Tue, 11 Oct 2011Drugmakers Charged With Defrauding Medicaid
Wed, 5 Oct 2011Google's Ad Freedom Wrongly Curtailed
Wed, 28 Sep 2011Drug Spending Targeted in Obama's $320 Billion Health Cut
Mon, 19 Sep 2011Lifesaving drugs 'out of reach' for many
Tue, 13 Sep 2011Whistleblower lawsuit accuses generic drugmakers of scheme that overcharged Medicaid
Wed, 7 Sep 2011Canadian Pharmacies React To US Gov't Taking $500 Million From Google Over Their Ads
Thu, 1 Sep 2011F.T.C. Criticizes Agreements That Delay Generic Drugs
Thu, 1 Sep 2011Cancer Drug Shortages Getting Worse, FDA Says
Thu, 25 Aug 2011In donut hole, Medicare patients don't switch, they stop
Fri, 19 Aug 2011Medicaid Pays Less Than Medicare for Many Prescription Drugs, U.S. Report Finds
Wed, 17 Aug 2011J&J Makes Progress in Risperdal Probe
Thu, 11 Aug 2011Senator Schumer’s Crackdown on Rogue Online Pharmacies: A Smart Approach
Mon, 1 Aug 2011Drug Prices to Plummet in Wave of Expiring Patents
Wed, 27 Jul 2011Obama Targets Drug Companies for Cuts in U.S. Debt Talks
Tue, 19 Jul 2011Alabama cuts Medicaid drug costs by examining pharmacy receipts
Thu, 14 Jul 2011Drug makers try to sidetrack demands for discounts
Mon, 11 Jul 2011Harvard Punishes 3 Psychiatrists Over Undisclosed Industry Pay
Tue, 5 Jul 2011A Congressional Bailout for a Pharma Firm?
Wed, 29 Jun 2011House Republican signs on to Democrats' Medicare drug savings proposal
Thu, 23 Jun 2011US Army Probes Pharma Payments To Military Docs
Mon, 20 Jun 2011Bayer Off-Label Promotion Of Yasmin Birth Control Pill For Acne Caused Teenager’s Death: Lawsuit
Sat, 18 Jun 2011Physicians need to radically rethink their prescribing practices, report says
Fri, 17 Jun 2011U.S. Government Fed Up With Pharmaceutical Prices – FDA To The Rescue?
Thu, 9 Jun 2011Healthcare law to allow generic versions of biotech drugs
Fri, 3 Jun 20114 Pharma CEOs Admit They Jack Up Drug Prices for the Hell of It
Wed, 18 May 2011Stop Price Increases for H.I.V. and AIDS Prescriptions
Thu, 12 May 2011Pay for Delay: U.S. Says Drugmakers Block Cheaper Generic Rivals
Thu, 5 May 2011Hey, big spender. How much did you shell out for Rx drugs?
Fri, 22 Apr 2011Off-Label Marketing of Medicines in the US Is Rife but Difficult to Control, Study Finds
Wed, 6 Apr 2011China Cuts Domestic Drug Prices by 21% on Average; Could This Cause Higher Prices in the U.S.?
Mon, 4 Apr 2011Fewer fill 'dispense as written' prescriptions - study
Tue, 29 Mar 2011U.S. drug prices outstrip other medical costs: GAO
Tue, 15 Mar 2011U.S. Brand-Name Drug Prices Dramatically Increased in 2010, According to New Report
Fri, 11 Mar 2011Demythologizing the High Costs of Developing New Drugs
Tue, 1 Mar 2011Stroke medicines still unaffordable for some survivors, according to University of Michigan research
Thu, 24 Feb 2011Senators Stabenow, Snowe Introduce Legislation to Lower Prescription Drug Prices
Wed, 23 Feb 2011Better Drug Ads, Fewer Side Effects
Fri, 11 Feb 2011How the war on fake drugs risks harming the poor
Thu, 10 Feb 2011Whistle-blower Ven-A-Care wins in Texas case against drug company
Wed, 2 Feb 2011Franken makes play for Medicare drug price negotiations
Thu, 27 Jan 2011Blowing the whistle on drug firms
Wed, 26 Jan 2011Time for real, not symbolic, reform on Medicare Part D
Mon, 24 Jan 2011Congressman Ron Paul Introduces Bill to Legalize Drug Re-Importation Through Online Pharmacies
Wed, 19 Jan 2011Health Advocacy Groups Take Drug Company Cash--Often Without Full Disclosures, Report Says
Fri, 14 Jan 2011States Ask Supreme Court To Review Pay-To-Delay
Thu, 13 Jan 2011U.S. Backs Drug Firms in Lawsuit Over Prices
Thu, 13 Jan 2011CMS: Healthcare spending increased to $2.5 trillion in 2009
Wed, 12 Jan 2011Pharmaceutical industry on verge of major Hill victory
Wed, 29 Dec 2010Drug Makers New Targets for U.S. Fraud Inquiries, Report Says
Mon, 20 Dec 2010Online Pharmacies, the Obama Administration and Public Health
Tue, 14 Dec 2010More Balk at Cost of Prescriptions
Tue, 7 Dec 2010PhRMA quietly spends big in 2010
Thu, 11 Nov 2010Resignation of top Pharma lobbyist reveals deep corruption of health care reform process
Mon, 24 May 2010Limited Personal Importation by the Uninsured Makes Sense
Mon, 24 May 2010U.S. senate votes to maintain big pharma's monopoly by blocking competitive imports
Mon, 24 May 2010Why are prescription drugs so expensive here?
Wed, 12 May 2010What you need to know if you're considering buying meds online
Tue, 4 May 2010It's illegal, but desperate Americans are buying drugs online from Canada
Tue, 4 May 2010Drug Prices Rose 9.1% Last Year, Ahead of Federal Health Overhaul
Thu, 22 Apr 2010Proposal would allow drugs from Canada to be sold in N.D., Montana
Wed, 21 Apr 2010US Senator calls on six drug majors to explain international price disparities
Thu, 8 Apr 2010CIPA Named Google's Canadian Online Pharmacy Verifier
Thu, 8 Apr 2010Governor Schweitzer Asks for Waiver to Allow Drug Imports from Canada
Thu, 8 Apr 2010Counterfeit Drugs and Internet Smarts
Fri, 2 Apr 2010Schweitzer says Canadian drugs still needed after reform
Wed, 31 Mar 2010How do you feel about having to pay more than everyone else for your medication? Tell us your story. **By filling out this form you are giving RxRights permission to use your comments to help build support for safe, affordable drug importation.**
