AARP: Price hikes doubled average drug prices over 7 years

AARP: Price hikes doubled average drug prices over 7 years

TRENTON, N.J.

The average cost for a year’s supply of a prescription drug doubled in just seven years to more than $11,000 – about three-quarters of the average annual Social Security benefit.

That’s according to the latest study of price trends for widely-used drugs conducted by AARP, the senior citizens advocacy group. It finds prices for existing drugs, driven entirely by manufacturer price hikes, have been rising more quickly since 2007 and likely will continue to do so.

AARP says its research shows drugmaker price hikes imposed one or more times a year are making prescription medicines increasingly unaffordable for retirees and many other patients. That’s particularly true for people taking multiple drugs or needing long-term medication for chronic health problems, not to mention the uninsured.

US senator: Set rules for airline seat sizes

NEW YORK

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer wants to require the Federal Aviation Administration to establish seat-size standards for commercial airlines, which he says now force passengers to sit on planes “like sardines.”

The New York Democrat told The Associated Press the airlines have been slowly cutting down legroom and seat width.

He said he will add an amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Bill that is pending before Congress that would require the agency to set the seat-size guidelines. Schumer was to formally announce the proposal at a news conference Sunday.

Schumer said seat pitch, the distance between a point on an airline seat and the same spot on the seat in front of it, has dropped from 35 inches in the 1970s to an average of closer to 31 inches, and seat width has gone from 18.5 inches to about 16.5 inches. He argues that the requirement is needed to stop airlines from shrinking those numbers more.

Starbucks to open its 1st shop in Italy

NEW YORK

Starbucks says it plans to enter probably its most intimidating market yet: Italy.

The coffee chain said Sunday that the first Starbucks will open in Milan in early 2017, in partnership with Italian developer Percassi.

It’s a symbolic move for the 45-year-old company and its CEO, Howard Schultz. On a business trip in the 1980s, Schultz visited Milan and Verona and decided to bring espresso drinks to the U.S. The concept took off, and Starbucks became the beverage giant it is today.

The company entered the U.K. in 1998 and there are now about 2,400 stores in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, making up about 10 percent of stores globally.

Citigroup receives subpoena over FIFA investigation

NEW YORK

Citigroup said it has received a subpoena from federal prosecutors over its possible involvement in the FIFA bribery scandal, the first large U.S. bank to receive such a notice from investigators.

Citigroup disclosed the subpoena in a regulatory filing late Friday, saying it is cooperating with investigators in the matter.

In May of last year, the U.S. government brought corruption charges against 14 current and former executives at FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, alleging the executives together had taken $150 million in bribes and payoffs. The charges eventually led to the resignation of FIFA’s long-time President Sepp Blatter.

When federal prosecutors announced those charges last year, several banks, including HSBC and JPMorgan Chase, were named as entities that corrupt FIFA officials used to transfer cash.

Associated Press