Doctors protest 400% price hike in HIV medication

An AIDS group has filed a lawsuit alleging antitrust violations. Two state attorneys general are investigating, but Abbott says all complaints are without merit.

By Tanya Albert, AMNews staff. March 8, 2004.

Physicians shocked and disgusted over a drug company's decision to raise an HIV medication's cost to $8.57 a day -- a 400% increase -- have joined together in protest.

These 200 doctors, many of whom are among the leaders in HIV treatment, say they don't have any choice but to continue to prescribe Abbott Laboratories' protease inhibitor Norvir to help their patients live quality lives. The drug is commonly used as a "booster" for other HIV-suppressing medications, and it has no competitor.

But to protest Norvir's December 2003 price increase, they will prescribe drugs by Abbott competitors when the choice exists and is medically appropriate, they said.

The grassroots physicians' group also will opt not to participate in Abbott postmarketing drug studies that seem to benefit the company more than patients.

The physicians say they understand that pharmaceutical companies need to make money for research and development, and they also understand that companies have to answer to shareholders. But, they say, an increase of this size is unprecedented and cannot become an acceptable practice in the drug industry.

"This sets a precarious precedent for the pricing of drugs if there is not a professional or legislative reply," said Benjamin Young, MD, PhD, an HIV specialist from Denver and one of the doctors to write Abbott about his concerns. "A 400% increase in the price of a life-saving drug is unethical."

The price jump is "outrageous," said Howard Grossman, MD, a New York City HIV specialist. "It's like talking about the price of gas going from $2 to $10. People would scream. It just isn't done."