"The groundwork of all happiness is health." - Leigh Hunt

Hundreds of prescription medications are experiencing price increases

Drug firms are raising prices on a whole lot of medication this month, in line with an information evaluation released last week by Reuters.

Pfizer, Sanofi, Takeda Pharmaceutical and others plan to lift prices on greater than 500 drugs – or greater than 140 brands, excluding different dosages and formulations, Reuters reported.

“The expected price increases come as the pharmaceutical industry prepares for the Biden administration to release sharply reduced prices for 10 expensive drugs in September, and continues to grapple with higher inflation and higher manufacturing costs,” Reuters wrote, citing an evaluation a health research company 3 Axis Consultant.

Last January, prices for 1,425 drugs rose, barely fewer than in 2022, when the number was 1,460, Reuters reported, citing 46brooklyn, a drug pricing nonprofit affiliated with 3 Axis.

According to 46brooklyn, average price increases since 2019 have been about 5%.

Under the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, Medicare can begin directly negotiating prices for some drugs for the primary time. Several pharmaceutical firms and national organizations are suing the federal government to declare drug price negotiations unconstitutional under the First and Fifth Amendments.

Medicare is negotiating prices for the ten drugs to make them cheaper for older people. “By autumn, the federal government will publish the agreed prices for these drugs, which will come into force in 2026,” it says CNBC.

The drug firms didn't reply to Reuters' requests for comment.

Pfizer announced probably the most price increases this month. The increases represent greater than 1 / 4 of the planned drugs – 124 drugs and one other 22 within the Hospira division, Reuters reported.

Sanofi has pledged to scale back prices for insulin products by 2024. According to Reuters, prices for vaccines against typhoid, rabies and yellow fever will each rise by 9% in January.