GAO finding of PPI drug price inflation overstatement is not "compelling," BLS commissioner maintains.
Executive Summary
GAO FINDING OF DRUG PRICE INFLATION OVERSTATEMENT IS NOT "COMPELLING," BLS Commissioner Katherine Abraham told the General Accounting Office in comments on GAO's draft report "Prescription Drug Prices: Official Index Overstates Inflation." The report contends that the Bureau of Labor Statistics' producer price index for prescription drugs "substantially" overstated the inflation rate for drugs between 1984-91. Requested by Senate Special Aging Committee Chairman Cohen (R-Maine), the GAO report was released May 30.