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Prescription drugs represented the largest portion of the Medicaid programâs asthma-related expenses âgrowing from $223.5 million, or 53.1 percent of all asthma-related Medicaid spending, in SFY 200809 to $306.- 6 million, or 57.6 percent, in SFY 2012-13.
The average wholesale price for 500 tablets of a diabetes drug called chlorpropamide, for example, has increased from $35.15 to $138.97. A blood pressure pill called methyclothiazide has gone from $19.06 for 100 tablets to $49.64. The price of 1,000 tablets of lorazepam, the second most popular generic anti-anxiety drug and sold under the name Ativan, has more than quadrupled from $179.95 to $796.67. And a prescription for a drug that cost $10 last month is now nearly $90. The drugs are manufactured by Mylan Laboratories, which claims the huge increases are necessary because of the increased cost of making the drugs and legal expenses.