CHICAGO — The prices for about 200 prescription drugs commonly used by seniors in the United States rose nearly twice the rate of inflation, a seniors group said on Tuesday, making a case for letting the government negotiate drug prices. Insomnia pill Ambien, made by Sanofi-Aventis, topped the list, with a 30 percent rise in price in 2006, said the report by the seniors’ lobby AARP, formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons. AARP, which lobbies for 38 million Americans over the age of 50, used the report to support an effort to give the federal Medicare agency the authority to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. Medicare is the federal health insurance program for about 43 million elderly and disabled. ‘We need to send a loud and clear message to the pharmaceutical industry that Americans cannot afford to continue to pay the highest prices for prescription drugs in the world,’ said David Sloane, senior managing director for government relations. Backing from AARP was key in the passage of the law in 2003 adding a prescription drug benefit to the Medicare program, which since its inception in 1965 did not cover drugs. The […]