Generics beat down drug price inflation

Generics may be the bane of Big Pharma, but they're inflation-fighting ninjas. Over the last 12 months, prescription drug prices edged up by a measly 1 percent--the lowest rate of inflation in three decades. Just two years ago, drug costs were rising at 4.4 percent annually.

The difference? More people are using generics, and generic versions of some of the most common, most popular drugs have come onto the market. And then there's the Wal-Mart effect: the $4 generics program Wal-Mart launched last fall, which quickly spread to competitors.

There's more rah-rah for generics to come, too. Several presidential candidates pin their plans for controlling healthcare costs onto the copycat drugs.

- read this article in The New York Times

Related Articles:
FDA backlog slows generic drug approval. Report
Dr. Reddy's make risky biogenerics move. Report
Generic battle looms for Lipitor. Report
Report claims generics could save system $20B. Report