AARP Study Finds Drugmakers Significantly Raised Prices.

Some of the U.S.'s largest drug companies continued to hike prices during the first quarter of the year following the passage of the Medicare prescription drug bill late last year, according to a report released today by AARP. Brand-name drug prices rose 3.4 percent in the first quarter of this year, after increasing 3 percent during the same period last year, according to the study. John Rother, AARP's director of policy and strategy, charged that companies that raised prices following the passage of the Medicare law were offsetting the discounts they are now providing to consumers under the Medicare drug discount card program that went into effect this month.