Price Hill resident Verda Bryant says she has a hard time accepting that her annual medication bill has soared from $466 last year to nearly $2,000 this year, while a single drug company executive raked in nearly $75 million in annual compensation.

        A group of more than 30 seniors gathered Wednesday at the Price Hill Recreation Center to express their outrage about huge profits, high salaries and massive advertising spending documented in a report released by the consumer group Families USA.

        The report states that the nation's nine leading drug companies reported average annual profits exceeding 18 percent in 2001 and paid top executives an average of $20 million a year, yet those same companies claim that any attempt to control the rising prices of medications for senior citizens would force them to slash research and development.

        “Drug companies continue to be one of the most profitable industries in the country. We're not saying they shouldn't do well, but they shouldn't be doing so well when so many seniors cannot afford to pay for their medications,” said Dave Scharfenberger, administrator for the Working in Neighborhoods Senior Action Coalition (WINSAC), a local group affiliated with Families USA.

        The new report was based on financial data filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the nine drug companies that produce the 50 drugs most commonly used by seniors.

        The nation's highest-paid drug company executive, according to Families USA, was C.A. Heimbold Jr., former chairman and chief executive of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., who received $74.9 million in salary, bonuses and stock compensation in 2001.

        Profit margins ranged from 10 percent to 27 percent, all well above the median profit margin of 3.3 percent for Fortune 500 companies. And all nine companies spent more on marketing, advertising and administration than they did on research and development.

        Among the examples, Pfizer — maker of the cholesterol control drug Lipitor — spent nearly $2.9 billion on advertising. Bristol-Myers Squibb — maker of cholesterol drug Pravachol and the arthritis reliever Vioxx — spent $1.4 billion on advertising.

        All these figures disgusted the Price Hill seniors.

        Several speakers complained that drug ads appearing every night on television and huge executive paychecks must play a role in explaining why prices keep going up for so many drugs that seniors need.

        “If I made the millions they do, I wouldn't have to worry about getting the medicines I need,” said Emma Harmeyer, a member of the Working in Neighborhoods Senior Action Coalition.

        However, a spokesman for the pharmaceutical industry said the Families USA report is misleading.

        “The only way the group can get a number for promotion that is higher than pharmaceutical R&D spending is to disguise the operating costs of running a business in their figures,” said Richard Smith, vice president of policy and research for Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)

        Last year, PhRMA members spent $30.3 billion on new drug development, and about $19 billion on marketing, including free drug samples, Mr. Smith said.

        “When Families USA attacks our promotional spending, they are really attacking the $10 billion in free drug samples that we give away each year to doctors who often use these free medicines to help needy patients. That's not very family-friendly,” Mr. Smith said.

        In Price Hill, WINSAC members called for seniors to write letters to their representatives in Congress to urge passage of a Medicare prescription drug benefit and for changes in patent laws that could increase the flow of less expensive generic drugs.

        In Washington, the House of Representatives has approved a $320 billion Medicare prescription drug bill. But in the Senate, debate continues over three proposals, ranging from $160 billion to $500 billion.

        It was unclear Wednesday whether a compromise could be reached.

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