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Cleaveland: Drug prices are up, up and away!

The panel discussion following a screening of "DRUG$ — The Price We Pay," a new feature-length documentary at a screening and reception cohosted by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) and the Harvard Center for Bioethics in Boston. The documentary explores the titanic struggle to address the soaring price of medicines in the U.S. and features interviews with academics, patients, advocates and political leaders. (Scott Eisen/AP Images for AIDS Healthcare Foundation)
The panel discussion following a screening of "DRUG$ — The Price We Pay," a new feature-length documentary at a screening and reception cohosted by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) and the Harvard Center for Bioethics in Boston. The documentary explores the titanic struggle to address the soaring price of medicines in the U.S. and features interviews with academics, patients, advocates and political leaders. (Scott Eisen/AP Images for AIDS Healthcare Foundation)

By Dr. Clif Cleaveland 4 min read

Prices for prescription medications continue their relentless rise. Nitrofurantoin (NTF), a frequently prescribed drug for lower urinary tract infection, is the latest example.

Developed in 1953, NTF has been a mainstay in the treatment of bladder infections. In September, Nostrum Labs of Kansas City, Missouri, raised the price of a bottle of liquid NTF from $500 to $2,300 per bottle. CEO Nirmal Mulye explained to the Financial Times, “I think it is a moral requirement to make money when you can, to sell the product for the highest price.” This is a bizarre twist on the meaning of “moral.”

photo Dr. Clif Cleaveland

Despite administration promises in May 2018 that drug manufacturers would soon make substantial, voluntary reductions in price, price increases have far exceeded reductions. The Associated Press reported in September that in the first seven months of this year, 96 increases in drug prices occurred for every reduction.

Steep increases in recent years in the price of essential drugs have been well publicized.

The price of naloxone, a life-saving, opioid antagonist, rose from less than $1 in 2006 to $21 to $35/dose in 2018. A two-pack of auto-injector Naloxone exceeds $3,700. This form of the drug is vital when treating a person with a severe opioid overdose and is standard equipment for most first-responders.