Executive Summary

Rx SEDATIVE CONTRACEPTIVE AND DIURETIC PRICES remained flat during the four-month period ended June 30, according to just-released Producer Price lndex data from the Labor Dept.'s Bureau of Labor Statistics. The bureau's figures, released July 12, indicate that from February through June contraceptive and sedative prices remained unchanged. Prices for diuretics edged up 0.2%. The contraceptive category has shown no increase through the first six months of 1985, while diuretics are up 4.2%. The sedative group, however, has increased 17.4% since the beginning of the year. Overall ethical drug prices are increasing at about a 9% annual pace. Through six months the index is up 4.5%. The pharmaceutical figures are still running well ahead of the index for finished goods, which is up only 0.5% through June. Ethicals with the largest growth for the four month period include bronchial therapy products, which jumped 10.3%, and central nervous system stimulants, which increased 8.9%.