Holy Cow! Go ahead, try to tell me big pharma isn't screwing us over.

[X_Digger]

I just picked up a prescription for the missus, and I witnessed a well-deserved melt-down of epic proportions.

I was in the inside lane of two drive-thru lanes at the local pharmacy, and I watched a pharmacy tech ring up a large bag of prescriptions for the guy in the outside lane.

As I could see the register from my position, my jaw started to drop as each item was added.

$359.00 phrx
$478.00 phrx
$218.00 phrx
$585.00 phrx

The grand total? $1,660.

When the tech told the guy the amount, he yelled, "SAY WHAT?!?" .. The tech repeats the total, and he came back with, "Oh NO FUCKING WAY!, I want to speak to your goddamned manager! RIGHT FUCKING NOW!"

The other tech filled my order at that point, so I drove away, but the more I thought about it, the madder I got.

Unless doctors are prescribing gold nuggets for ulcers, there's something seriously wrong with our health care system.

[Ecumenist]

1. Something is screwed up with this system....Things HAVE to change

[kimmerspixelated]

40. Absolutely right. It's screwed up on a very large scale!

There are so many levels of deception and corruption going on within Big Pharma, too lengthy to mention or go into, but just like the 99% it's time to take our healthcare future into our own hands, by taking control of our own health. That's where it starts.

GO HOLISTIC FOLKS! Start with your diet, stress reduction, etc.
Hit Big Pharma where it hurts-in their pocketbooks!
Don't visit your doctor and take prescriptions for every little thing!

DO RESEARCH!
Try Energy medicine, try Yoga! There's a whole world out there- USE IT!

I'm not saying doctors and mainstream medicines aren't useful occasionally. BUT THEY ONLY TREAT SYMPTOMS AND NOT THE PROBLEM!

Well, flaming this is useless, so please save your energy and DON't GO THERE, PLEASE!

To Your Health! Cheers!

[Liberal Veteran]

2. There could be a couple of things going on.

1. The person was completely uninsured (which sucks, but does happen).

2. He (or his doctor) requested brand name medications for which a generic is available. A lot of insurances will not cover brand name medications if their is a generic equivalent. I've known this to happen where a person would have a reasonable copay at generic (the usual 10-50 dollars) and demand only brand name medication.

3. He has a super high deductible for prescription medication and since it is January, new deductible.

4. The insurance company screwed up and showed him as not covered when he should be (or he changed insurance and didn't give the new info to the pharmacy).

I won't argue that prescription medications are extremely overpriced in the US. You wouldn't want to know how much my medications cost if I was paying out of pocket. (HIV meds aren't cheap and sadly most are branded in the US with no generic available).

[Kablooie]

4. Maybe the guy was getting 10 years worth of medication.

[AC_Mem]

14. Last year my daughter

had insurance that required her to pay the first $4,000.00 out of her pocket before anything was covered.

She has 2 small children.

She makes under $30k per year.

She works for a cancer clinic.

There is definately something wrong with this picture.

Annette

[Liberal Veteran]

20. Totally agree.

Our system is in really immoral.

We fund a good portion of the drug development from our tax dollars and then our legislators allow corporations to take the benefit of that research and privatize the profits at enormous margins.

And the for profit insurance companies skim a hefty margin as well.

It's a fucked up system that by my standards is unethical and reprehensible.

[onehandle]

3. Psst. I'm working the Pharma world now.

Something is paying for...

Ok, I can't say what on the off chance...

Yeah, there's big money in big pharma.

I'm not getting it. This is hopefully a short stint in this industry.

[True Earthling]

5. Those TV commercials are expensive...

Big Pharma Spends More On Advertising Than Research And Development, Study Finds
ScienceDaily (Jan. 5, 2008) — A new study by two York University researchers estimates the U.S. pharmaceutical industry spends almost twice as much on promotion as it does on research and development, contrary to the industry’s claim.

The researchers’ estimate is based on the systematic collection of data directly from the industry and doctors during 2004, which shows the U.S. pharmaceutical industry spent 24.4% of the sales dollar on promotion, versus 13.4% for research and development, as a percentage of US domestic sales of US$235.4 billion.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080105140107.htm

[Bozita]

24. " Big Pharma Spends More On Advertising Than Research And Development, Study Finds "

Says it all!

[Overseas]

46. I remember hearing that stunning news.

Probably spending millions on lobbying too.

[Logical]

6. Drugs are expensive to develop. Most fail in early studies.......

And 1 out of 10 make it to market. But someone has to pay for the cost of developing the 9 that do not.

Take the profit out of drugs and NO ONE will develop them. It is that simple.

If it is so easy then every college lab would be developing drugs that make it to market yearly.

It takes 5-10 years to get a drug to market.

Don't buy them if they suck so bad. You can't complain about big pharma and at the same time want new drug that cure things.

[Doremus]

7. You may not be aware that you're repeating reheated repuke regurgitation, i.e. talking points.

*blink*
I thought I was reading an old Squibb promo brochure.

[Logical]

8. It is reality.....I guess in your imaginary world drugs invent themselves and.....

get approved by the FDA with no studies needed.

For every person who bitches about drug costs there are 10 more who complain smaller "Orphaned" diseases are not addressed and are mad.

Explain how in your dream world drugs would be found and sold? At GNC??

[X_Digger]

11. Why do US consumers get screwed, though?

Why does the US market pay 5-20x more for the same drug than in other countries?

Fuck.that.noise.

[customerserviceguy]

15. The best way to deal with that fact

is to buy from Canadian pharmacies, and save a bundle. That's how I get my Protonix, at about a quarter of the cost of a prescription.

And let's face it, the big-ass chain pharmacies are making it hand over fist, as well. You can't afford two drive in windows if you're a little corner druggist. They're not paying the rent from the markup on cosmetics and baby wipes.

[dixiegrrrrl]

43. did not know we could legally get drugs from Canada.

sure would like to know how...

[customerserviceguy]

56. Oh, the FDA and Big Pharma discourage it

but it's possible. Usually, the drugs get shipped in from other countries, and are made in different ones than that. My Protonix is made in Turkey, comes in through the Netherland Antilles.

[joeglow3]

17. Reality is that we subsidize the rest of the world.

I agree that we need to do something. Short term, I think the entire world will suffer. However, other countries will realize they need to pony up a bit more and we would all be paying a reasonable amount.

[Liberal Veteran]

18. Because the corporation have been given a free hand to gouge us.

And even patent law has been corrupted to the extend that gouging.

Even when generics are available, they can be outrageously expensive.

When I replied earlier, I wasn't commenting on the morality and ethics, just giving possible scenarios that may have been the cause of the exchange you witnessed.

But it does seem to me that the price of medications in the US far exceeds what it should be.

[Logical]

23. Because private insurance sucks and will pay full drug costs....

Thus covering the cost for other countries!

[mahina]

37. Because money is speech and corporations are people.

Because they write the laws.

Support your local chapter of Common Cause. http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=4741359

[gateley]

21. Or -- don't buy them if you don't have the fucking money! THAT'S the problem, not peoples'

attitudes! Nobody is asking Pharma to not make a profit, they are asking Pharma to be decent and deliver help to sick people and not ONLY profits to shareholders.

[Logical]

22. Then feel free to start a non-profit drug company! Good luck!

[Kellerfeller]

30. I wouldn't expect to hear

a logical or coherent response to that one!

What you say it true. But as others have pointed out, the US is also subsidizing other countries.

[Logical]

44. I 100% agree. And I am a huge single payer fan. I hope it happens!

[gateley]

39. What if you don't have the money to buy the drugs? Don't have the money to buy

insurance coverage? What then?

I would LOVE to have insurance but I don't. have. the. money.

Did I not say in my post that nobody begrudges them their profits? I've worked in the pharmaceutical industry and I know how costly R&D AND clinical trials are. Nobody is asking them to volunteer, just to help us to stay alive by making the retail prices sane.

[Logical]

45. We need the Canada health care system!!

[gateley]

48. Boy, do I agree with that! But I read that Single Payer in California was defeated -- in

California! That's discouraging. I was hoping individual States could adopt such a system, then have more and more States get on board. That's the only way I thought it had a chance, but now I'm not even sure we can achieve that.

[Critters2]

52. Exactly. I have no functioning thyroid gland. Completely dependent on a drug.

I'd have a shitload of other health problems without my daily dose of levothyroxine. I think daily about how lucky I am to have insurance, and to be able to use a generic (with this disorder, some need to take Synthroid, the brand name drug, because there are minor differences between that and generics which some can't tolerate). I know I can't depend on the drug industry to care.

[gateley]

53. I have no thyroid at all -- they removed it about 10 years ago, so I understand how crucial the

levothyroxine is. I don't have any insurance and only work two days a week and hardly have any money. I went without for several months until a friend of mine whose insurance somehow left her with a stash of 100 or so tabs learned of my predicament and gave her stash to me. (Luckily we both were taking the same dosage.) After that ran out I went to a doctor to get a prescription and for the first time without insurance in years, was stunned that the office visit was $150! He gave me one refill but not a second without testing me. Well, I couldn't pay for another office visit, not to mention the labs, and found a great clinic with $25 office visits and $8/mo for my generic levothyroxine.

Before I found that clinic I was really scared - I didn't know what I was going to do. Plus I have high blood pressure which is another potential killer. I am so grateful there are clinics like that to help people like me.

Hope you're doing well!

[Critters2]

57. I'm glad you found a clinic that can treat you. I'm doing okay. I have Hashimoto's Syndrome

which went undiagnosed for years, until a cardiologist did a full blood work-up while treating atrial fibrillation. My TSH was off the charts. My immune system had pretty much destroyed my thyroid. Once I got on the levothyroxine, all kinds of other health issues, from the heart thing to depression to essential tremor got better pretty quickly. The cardiologist was furious that no one had ever checked my thyroid while treating me for all those other things. I'm feeling much better now. Thanks!

It's conditions like this, which call for constant medication and monitoring, that best demonstrate the need for single payer universal health care.

[gateley]

59. I had a goiter for YEARS that wasn't investigated -- doctors

would just say "boy, that's some goiter!". It was my friend (the one who came to my rescue) who said, when I complained about being so fatigued and weak I could barely walk across the room, you KNOW it's your thyroid, don't you? That got me to an endo fast! By that time it was so trashed they just took it out.

[Ms. Toad]

63. If you've been without insurance for 6 months,

you would be eligible for the high risk pool. The costs are very reasonable (at least compared to what was available before the health care reform - although it would still be a big bite for someone working only a couple of days a week). Info here: https://www.pcip.gov/StatePlans.html#StateInformation

[gateley]

64. Well thank you so much! I'll check it out! nt

[hunter]

25. Drugs could be developed by universities...

... and the patents released to the public domain. Research money could be directed to drugs people need, and not simply to drugs that are going to make a lot of money.

Pharmaceutical companies caught marketing their drugs to the public or buying doctors to promote their drugs ought to have their patents confiscated and released to the public domain.

That would put an end to this nonsense.

[DCKit]

26. "Most fail in early studies", then the corps come up with a new disease that can be treated...

with their new wonder drug.

Side effects may include liver damage, manic episodes, sleep skydiving and sudden death. Do not take this drug if you've ever had a coherent thought.

[Overseas]

47. I agree. Like gee, this drug didn't help the liver problem it was made for but those who took it

couldn't pee for hours... Hey, a new blockbuster Incontinence Miracle Med !!... May cause liver damage, and lots of other miserable conditions for which you'll need a few other meds but hey, you won't need to pee inconveniently when we've cut down on public toilets everywhere.

[Critters2]

50. Yep. Like the prescription drug to make eye lashes longer that I keep seeing advertised.

Thank God we can finally treat that disease!

[DCKit]

51. "public toilets"???? What communist country are you from?

[lumberjack_jeff]

32. It costs half as much to develop drugs than it does to market them.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080105140107.htm

ScienceDaily (Jan. 5, 2008) — A new study by two York University researchers estimates the U.S. pharmaceutical industry spends almost twice as much on promotion as it does on research and development, contrary to the industry’s claim.
The researchers’ estimate is based on the systematic collection of data directly from the industry and doctors during 2004, which shows the U.S. pharmaceutical industry spent 24.4% of the sales dollar on promotion, versus 13.4% for research and development, as a percentage of US domestic sales of US$235.4 billion.
The research is co-authored by PhD candidate Marc-André Gagnon, who led the study with Joel Lexchin, a long-time researcher of pharmaceutical promotion, Toronto physician, and Associate Chair of York’s School of Health Policy & Management in the Faculty of Health.
“In our paper, we make the case for the need for a new estimate of promotional expenditures by the U.S. pharmaceutical industry,” says Gagnon. “We then explain how we used proprietary databases to construct a revised estimate and finally, we compare our results with those from other data sources to argue in favor of changing the priorities of the industry.”

[Tuesday Afternoon]

9. uninsured diabetic, would be my guess. sad.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

10. I get your point,

but am I the only one who found "2 drive-thru lanes at the pharmacy" kind of odd. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but how fucked up is the world that we need drive-thru pharmacies?

[X_Digger]

13. Our doc calls in prescriptions directly to our choice of pharmacies.

Makes it easy when running errands.

[sylveste]

38. huh?

why is having convenience "fucked up"? my bank has several drive through lanes, i don't find that "fucked up" at all. in fact it's pretty handy.

[laundry_queen]

58. It's especially handy

when it's -30 (in Canada) and you have 4 kids all bundled up and buckled in the car.
There aren't any drive through pharmacies where I live (yet) but I LOVE my bank drive-through ATM. LOVE it.

[lonestarnot]

12. Ever bought any preparation H? May as well shove a couple of silver dollars use your ass.

[X_Digger]

16. Amazon Prime for the win..

My wife saves money by buying all kinds of toiletry items (what I call 'notions, potions, unguents, and creams, oh my!') via amazon prime. Cheaper than any local store and free shipping.

[lonestarnot]

19. LOL!

Thanks.

[eShirl]

62. also great for toiletries are "dollar" type stores

but yeah, Amazon Subscribe & Save is awesome... our popular cat food brand is cheaper than anywhere local (and I've looked everywhere), plus they deliver it right up to our apartment door, saving my old knees from lugging the cases up the stairs.

[begin_within]

27. I think Big Pharm is bribing doctors.

I quit my doctor because he always seemed to be busy with the "detailers" - reps from Pharm companies who shower the doctors with free samples, sometimes take them out to lunch, and whatnot. The women who do this are always provocatively dressed, like they're going to a ritzy party but they plan to get drunk and kick up their heels. Too many times my doctor was talking with those people at the very time of my appointment. I finally got up and walked out and never went back to him. Sadly it's not just him, it is pandemic.

[marlakay]

29. My local clinic/small hospital

made a rule years ago, no drug reps allowed at all. No free samples nada. No gifts, nothing.

I asked when my doctor tried to recommend something once if she was doing so because of a rep and she told me the rule.

[Rex]

28. Now why would I lie to you about something

so obvious?

[lumberjack_jeff]

31. "RIGHT F*****G NOW!" is a teachable moment.

he's getting boned by the Republicans who are in the pockets of big pharma. They are the ones who insist on long term patents and prohibit the government from negotiating on price.

[hedgehog]

33. My MIL ran into something like that -

my husband found a generic equivalent very quickly on the Web.

I myself am taking drugs for several chronic diseases. Most of my scripts have gone generic, and it really tickles me to see the clerk ringing up my totals these days: $0.70, $1.60, $0.88.

[LizW]

36. True, HUGE difference in generics price

I refused to take Fosamax when I was diagnosed with osteoporosis because at the time there was no generic and it was horribly expensive. (Also, I read that the results just weren't that great -- I could get better by walking a couple of miles a day.)

It's important to ask the doc to prescribe a generic if there is one, and research the drugs they are trying to make you take.

There's a generic for Fosamax now, but I don't see the point, so I'm still not taking it.

[woo me with science]

34. 400 individuals at the top have more than 150 million at the bottom.

Yes, we are being screwed. Shame on anyone who accepts what we are told about what things should cost or lectures others about complaining about something like this. We are being thieved from and screwed every single day, in more ways than we are even aware of.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/opinion/sunday/kristof-americas-primal-scream.html?_r=1

¶The 400 wealthiest Americans have a greater combined net worth than the bottom 150 million Americans.

¶The top 1 percent of Americans possess more wealth than the entire bottom 90 percent.

¶In the Bush expansion from 2002 to 2007, 65 percent of economic gains went to the richest 1 percent.

Occupy. Occupy. Occupy. Occupy, or be owned.

[RebelOne]

35. Why not just order from Canadian pharmacies?

I do and I can get my blood pressure meds without a prescription a hell of a lot cheaper than the local pharmacies.

[me b zola]

41. We don't have a health care system

We have a system where insurence companies and big pharma hold our health and lives hostage while they extort everylast penny that we will ever think about having. Health care in the US? Thats just for the rich and the lucky.

[McCamy Taylor]

42. We in the US pay more so that Big Pharm can charge less in their own countries.

Half of the top ten US drug dealers are European. When we were trying to pass health care reform, European papers like the Guardian were demanding that the US do nothing to keep down drug costs, because if we did companies like Glaxo-Smith-Kline (UK) would no longer be able to afford to give discounts at home.

[ellisonz]

49. Corporations are people, my friends.

[flamingdem]

55. When a corporation needs health care

the taxpayer foots the bill.

[ellisonz]

60. Would the corporation like...

...the generic or name-brand bailout?

[flamingdem]

61. Funny you should mention that

I'm having to switch insurance and it's easy to get caught on the generic/brand name switcheroo. They don't emphasize that point in the comparison charts because they want you to select generic since it's a huge savings for them due to drug costs. They prey on people with that..

So they'll take the brand name bailout for sure!

[flamingdem]

54. Uf

I'm worried about that guy even though I don't know him. yeesh