Prescription drug prices did something last month they haven’t done in 47 years: they went down.
The monthly Consumer Price Index report released Tuesday showed a 1.0 percent decline in the price of prescription drugs in February. And on a year-over-year basis, the cost of prescription drugs is down 1.2 percent – the biggest annual decline since 1972.
What’s behind the unusual decline in drug prices? MarketWatch’s Jeffry Bartash says that drugmakers “are feeling the heat,” with both President Trump and Congress complaining publicly about the high cost of pharmaceuticals, and political pressure could be partly responsible. New generic drugs coming to market could also play role.
But don’t get used to the falling prices, Bartash says, since most analysts expect prescription drug costs to resume their upward trend. Stephen Stanley of Amherst Pierpont Securities said the price decline was likely temporary and “extremely unlikely to be repeated on a regular basis.”
