Excerpt: Some of the key findings are as follows: Although the average price increase by brand name drug manufacturers in 2000 was slightly above the rate of general inflation, in 2003, the average price increase was three times the rate of inflation. Among all 197 drugs in the sample, the four-year average annual growth rate in manufacturers' brand name drug prices was 6.0 percent, compared with an average annual general inflation rate of 2.5%.