Prescription drug prices skyrocketing

[Flyn]

Earl Harford, a retired professor who lives in Tucson, recently bought a month’s worth of the pills he needs to keep his leukemia at bay. The cost: $7,676, three times more than when he began taking the pills in 2001. Over the years he’s paid more than $140,000 of his retirement savings to cover his share of the drug’s price. “People with this condition are being taken advantage of by the pharmaceutical industry,” says Harford. “They haven’t improved the drug; they haven’t done anything but keep manufacturing it. How do they justify it?”

Why Prescription Drug Prices Keep Rising Higher - Businessweek

I have seen several articles lately on the accelerating rise in prescription drug prices. Some drug costs are going up by as much as 15 times current prices in short periods of time. Seems the more needed a drug is, the more the Pharmaceutical corps. are jacking up the prices. IMHO, there's something wrong with making astronomical amounts of money on drugs people need to stay alive.

People are losing their life savings, going deeply into debt just to try to stay alive, sexually potent or live a normal life instead of one full of pain and suffering. Many people can't afford the drugs and suffer or die.

I understand that capitalism says charge what the market will bear but, to me, in the case of necessary drugs, this is just plain wrong.

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[VenomousDSG]

I think anyone who profits off the dependency, misery, and suffering of others in any way should be shot... Or at the very least beaten within an inch of their lives.

I'm all for capitalism and business, but i draw the line when people need a product to survive. Drug prices have gone way beyond "fair" long ago, before these rises. Pharmaceuticals are basically a legal monopoly.

 

[Flyn]

The pharmaceutical and health products industry -- it includes not only drug manufacturers but also dealers of medical products and nutritional and dietary supplements -- is consistently one of the top industries for federal campaign contributions.

Pharmaceuticals / Health Products | OpenSecrets

 

[Donnie]

In one month (three weeks) both of my insulin prescriptions doubled in price. To 192$ and 212$ respectively.

Beyond glad I finally got insurance the other month...

 

[ThirdgenTa]

Mine is $17,000 per month. Good thing for insurance. Also picked up an rx that was $700, but found a coupon for $260 online.

 

[Donnie]

Yeah, paying everything out of pocket was always fun. 3/4 or so of your income claimed by big Pharma from square one. Nopenopenope.

 

[Zack]

It costs less to make a jar of pills than it does to make an iphone6.

Which is under 10 dollars.

 

[Marko]

I paid $ 150 for 6 100 Mg Viagra pills. Fuck that. But they definitely work. I break the pills in half too

 

[Zack]

I paid $ 150 for 6 100 Mg Viagra pills. Fuck that. But they definitely work. I break the pills in half too

You can get that stuff online for pennies on the dollar.

 

[greasy]

I think anyone who profits off the dependency, misery, and suffering of others in any way should be shot... Or at the very least beaten within an inch of their lives.

I'm all for capitalism and business, but i draw the line when people need a product to survive. Drug prices have gone way beyond "fair" long ago, before these rises. Pharmaceuticals are basically a legal monopoly.

[MENTION=239]Turk[/MENTION] all angry 'n shit.

 

[Sprayin]

I paid $ 150 for 6 100 Mg Viagra pills. Fuck that. But they definitely work. I break the pills in half too

You can get that stuff online for pennies on the dollar.

In Mexico, they are $6 for 5 of them. My buddy lived in Yuma, AZ for a year and used to pop those things like skittles because they are cheap.

 

[Marko]

You can get that stuff online for pennies on the dollar.

Link ?

I've used a coupon/discount for like 3 pills before from the Viagra website

 

[Mike K]

I think anyone who profits off the dependency, misery, and suffering of others in any way should be shot... Or at the very least beaten within an inch of their lives.

I'm all for capitalism and business, but i draw the line when people need a product to survive. Drug prices have gone way beyond "fair" long ago, before these rises. Pharmaceuticals are basically a legal monopoly.

This is an issue that I've been torn on for a long time. On the one hand, without the monetary gain where is the motivation to innovate and create new drugs? On the other hand, where do you draw the line? When is enough enough?

You can't rely on the pharmaceutical companies (or any company really) to police themselves. There's nobody, when faced with limited competition and high demand, that will say "That's it! Let's put a cap on the price. We don't need to make any more money this year!".

What does seem like a more cut and dry issue though is variances in price from location to location. The product costs what it costs. It's not like selling it in Australia costs more than selling it in Mexico. So if you remove government subsidies I think a good place to start is making sure that American Pharmaceutical companies aren't charging Americans more than other countries just because they can.

 

[OffshoreDrilling]

cap off the price on the drugs in some sort of way, and let the drug companies keep their patents for longer periods of time.

They won't make as much money on the drug per unit, but you're the only game in town who can make money on it at all.

 

[Turk]

[MENTION=239]Turk[/MENTION] all angry 'n shit.

We make a higher profit margin on cheaper drugs. I agree, prices are starting to get nuts, but it's typically the chemo drugs etc. Your more common drugs are actually getting cheaper.

 

[Marko]

We make a higher profit margin on cheaper drugs. I agree, prices are starting to get nuts, but it's typically the chemo drugs etc. Your more common drugs are actually getting cheaper.

I wish a drug company would come out with generic Viagra. Correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think generic is available

 

[deviantlx]

My dealer hasn't changed his prices? Merica! Fuck yeah!

 

[Turk]

I wish a drug company would come out with generic Viagra. Correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think generic is available

It isn't yet, but should be very soon. When a generic first hits the market, it's also expensive. Within the first year of a Viagra generic, I'd expect only about a 20% decrease from the brand price. Best way to utilize Viagra on the cheap is to get the 100mg tablets and cut them in half. I think the 100mg are the same price as the 50mg.

 

[Kaeghl]

Oh I had some fun working marketing for big pharma for about 2 years.
You are nothing but a number.
You want to know the difference between amoxicillin and fishmox? Oh about 300% profit. It comes off the same assembly line. One is 35 bucks a pill, the other 3.

There is so much shady crap going on behind the lines.
Online pharmacies popped up where you could get drugs cheap as hell, oh guess what, they have been shutting them down because they "endanger people". They endanger the bottom line is what it is.

And as far as generics or when a p tent runs out, well guess what, they got a loop hole passed so that when the patent is about to expire, if they change is slightly then POOF, its a new drug and the patent is extended.
Nice huh?

 

[Flyn]

^^It's things like this that should have people protesting in the streets rather than things like the Ferguson non indictment verdict.

 

[Turk]

^^It's things like this that should have people protesting in the streets rather than things like the Ferguson non indictment verdict.

Why? You can just get the generic instead of the brand, or have your doctor switch to a drug that cost $4 without insurance. If you can't afford $4 a month, well...

 

[Flyn]

$4, Turk?

Even those with good health insurance must navigate a web of sales incentives, health insurance rules, and regulations to get an affordable price on insulin. Colby Cook, a diabetes blogger at Diabeatitnow.com says he’s seen the price of insulin rise significantly in recent years, but he believes he hasn’t experienced as much sticker shock as some others because he has good insurance and is a savvy shopper. He recently paid $207.90 out-of-pocket for 3 vials of Apidra insulin for him and his 2 T1 children, a price he considers pretty reasonable these days.

“The pharmacist told me the list price is 188.11 (per vial) and I get 10% off that,” says Cook, a computer programmer who lives in Cedar Hills, Utah. “However if I didn’t use a coupon from the Apidra website and get the 10% and have insurance, I would pay…more like 250.00 per bottle.

I use 2-3 vials of insulin a month. It's a lot more than $4 even with insurance. List price on the drug is closer to the $250 mentioned above.

Because Cook has not yet met the $2,000 yearly deductible on his insurance plan, his out-of-pocket expense for insulin is higher now than it will be later in the year. Once he surpasses his deductible, the price will dip down to $40 a vial for Apidra. Cook says when he reaches that threshold, he then tries to stock up on insulin by refilling it as quickly as his insurance plan will allow.

“It’s almost like I’m hoarding,” he says. “I’m trying to buy it every 20 days.”

His pharmacist looked into the 340B program for him and could only find one doctor in Utah who was qualified to sign people with diabetes up for it. Cook says he can keep up with the costs for now, but he sometimes has to send insulin to a family member with diabetes who can’t always afford it. He also worries about others in the diabetes community in tighter financial straits.

“I wonder how some people without money would even be able to survive,” he says.

Insulin Nation » Understanding Insulin Sticker-Shock

Retired nurse Mary Smith was having trouble controlling her type 2 diabetes on her regular insulin regimen, so her doctor decided to put her on something stronger.

Amber Taylor, MD, director of The Diabetes Center at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, wrote Smith a prescription for Humulin U-500 insulin, a much more concentrated form of the drug. It could deliver far more active ingredient at far less overall volume, which was important since Smith's insulin doses were getting high.

But when Smith showed up at the pharmacy, she was told she'd have to shell out $900 for a vial.

"There was no way I could afford that," Smith told MedPage Today as she recalled the pharmacy visit, which happened about a year ago. And the price has gone up since then: Now a single bottle of highly concentrated Humulin U-500 insulin that lasts a diabetes patient about one month costs $1,200 wholesale -- more than five times the $220 it cost in 2007.

This is not the first time a drug company has raised prices simply because it could. Pharmaceutical law experts say there's no regulatory framework to prevent drug companies from increasing prices based on demand.

"I am not aware of any laws that would prevent a pharmaceutical company from doubling the price of insulin," said Kate Greenwood, JD, a pharmaceutical law expert at Seton Hall University in New Jersey.

"There are statutes and regulations governing the price that pharmaceutical companies can charge Medicare, Medicaid, and other government programs," she continued. "These laws do not put a cap on the market price of a drug or drugs, however."

Price Tag on Old Insulin Skyrockets

 

[Andrew222]

Almost five years passed since this topic was created, and the prices on meds still keep rising higher. Of course, we all have a possibility to check several pharmacies and choose one with the most reliable prices, but pills become more and more expensive every year. Some meds are three times more expensive than I bought several years ago. I have recently started ordering meds online (found a good Canada Pharmacy). I should say, I'm pleased with its service and prices. And buying online allows to save not only money, but also time.

 

[1quick]

I haven’t paid more than 5 bucks in a while but I have better insurance now

 

[boostedguy05]

$3.00 for generic $6.00 for name brand. good insurance ftw.