Costs grow for Medicare drugs.
Prices for 10 of the most prescribed brand-name medications have risen nearly 7% since December under Medicare Part D insurance plans, while wholesale prices for the same drugs have risen just 3%, investigators from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committe reported. The increases could indicate that despite initial...

Affordable drugs? Forget it! It's not just poor countries that find their sovereignty threatened by free trade. Patricia Ranald explains how the US-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) may torpedo Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
AUSTRALIANS love their Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). It keeps medicines affordable and controls health costs. But it is loathed by the giant pharmaceutical companies. Not only because it limits their profits in Australia, but also because it is being seen as a model that might be applied elsewhere around...

TURKEY - May 8 - Govt. Cannot Set Inflation Targets.
Economy Minister Kemal Dervis says the government cannot begin setting monthly inflation targets before July, when price rises are to peek in the wake of financial crisis. Wholesale prices surged by 14% in April for an annual rise of 50.9%, while the consumer index increased 10.3% to stand at...

Gasoline prices may be easing.
Byline: From Register-Guard and news service reports WASHINGTON - Gasoline prices, which dipped to less than $2 a gallon for the first time in weeks, ``may be turning a corner'' and should continue declining this summer, though motorists shouldn't expect dramatic decreases at the pump, the Energy...

Brownout.
Will Green Power Survive California Energy Crisis? With bated breath, the nation has been watching California to see how electric utility restructuring would affect the price of power, the reliability of electric service and the green power industry. Consumer advocates hoped for lower power prices. Environmentalists hoped...

Area drivers experience pain at pump.
Byline: Edward Russo The Register-Guard Brandy Means of Eugene thought she would take her family camping Labor Day weekend, but her plans have been thwarted by fast-rising gasoline prices, she says. Since mid-July, retail gasoline prices in the Eugene-Springfield area have risen about 25 cents...

Cigarette tab burns Oregon smokers.
Byline: David Steves The Register-Guard It costs the tobacco industry and its distributors $11 million less to do business in Oregon than it did a year ago, thanks to a drop in the cigarette tax of 10 cents a pack. But are consumers reaping the...

Ten highest selling prescription drugs in 2003.
VITAL SIGNS Ten Highest Selling Prescription Drugs in 2003 2003 Sales % Growth ($Billions) From 2002 Lipitor (atorvastatin) 6.8 11 Zocor (simvastatin) 4.4 7 Prevacid (lanoprazole) 4.0 12 Procrit (epoetin alfa) 3.3 4 Zyprexa (olanzapine) 3.2 7 Epogen (epoetin alfa) 3.1 6 Nexium (esomeprazole) 3.1 58 Zoloft (sertraline) 2.9...

TURKEY - July 4 - Shares and Lira Slip On IMF Delay.
Shares on the main Istanbul index end the day 0.63% lower at 11,082.27 points, while the lira sinks to 1,278,000 against the dollar on the interbank spot market from 1,275,000 on July 3. Murat Oku of Oncu Securities says: "Expectations are fixated on the IMF and World Bank credits....

NEWS IN BRIEF; Peso closes at P56.20.
The peso closed higher at P56.20 to the US dollar yesterday at the Philippine Dealing System of the Bankers Association of the Philippines from P56.22 the previous day. The weighted average rate appreciated to P56.206 from P56.262. Total volume amounted to $131.4 million. PLDT gets $8-M payments...