Drug Goes From $13.50 a Tablet to $750, Overnight
Source: New York Times
Specialists in infectious disease are protesting a gigantic overnight increase in the price of a 62-year-old drug that is the standard of care for treating a life-threatening parasitic infection.
The drug, called Daraprim, was acquired in August by Turing Pharmaceuticals, a start-up run by a former hedge fund manager. Turing immediately raised the price to $750 a tablet from $13.50, bringing the annual cost of treatment for some patients to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
What is it that they are doing differently that has led to this dramatic increase? said Dr. Judith Aberg, the chief of the division of infectious diseases at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She said the price increase could force hospitals to use alternative therapies that may not have the same efficacy.
Turings price increase is not an isolated example. While most of the attention on pharmaceutical prices has been on new drugs for diseases like cancer, hepatitis C and high cholesterol, there is also growing concern about huge price increases on older drugs, some of them generic, that have long been mainstays of treatment.
Although some price increases have been caused by shortages, others have resulted from a business strategy of buying old neglected drugs and turning them into high-priced specialty drugs.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/21/business/a-huge-overnight-increase-in-a-drugs-price-raises-protests.html
This Drug has been in use since 1953.
Pharma firm hikes life-saving drug price by 5,500%
The medical community is outraged by a 5,500 percent price hike for Daraprim, after a big NY-based pharmaceutical company purchased the patent for it. The drug has been on the market for over 60 years, and can be essential to certain AIDS and cancer treatments.
The New York-based Turing Pharmaceuticals raised the price of Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 per pill in just over a month after buying the rights for the drug from Impax Laboratories.
The drug is used to treat toxoplasmosis, the second most common food-borne disease that affects patients suffering from AIDS and cancer. It has been produced since 1953 and is on the WHO List of Essential Medicines. But now medical associations are beating their drums about the sudden price hike and potential affordability of Daraprim as a treatment.
http://www.rt.com/usa/316046-pharma-daraprim-price-hike/
Plucketeer
(12,882 posts)It's time for a political revolution! Imagine - just imagine - all the GOP crooks doing a mass perp walk. Imagine telling pharma companies: you'll sell it at a fair price or you won't sell it at all. No more legalized robbery! It IS within our powers to make it happen!
still_one
(92,130 posts)Democrats have been investigating the price gouging:
http://democrats.oversight.house.gov/cummings-investigates-potential-prescription-drug-price-gouging
Also in 2014:
http://blogs.wsj.com/pharmalot/2014/10/02/lawmakers-probe-staggering-price-hikes-for-generic-drugs/
If Congress can't do their frickin job, then people need to vote in people who will. In the meantime folks are going to have to start investigating Canada and other sources for these medicines, because obviously the government is failing the public.
reddread
(6,896 posts)how are they supposed to provide oversight and accept support simultaneously?
still_one
(92,130 posts)Last edited Mon Sep 21, 2015, 07:29 PM - Edit history (1)
time doing that
reddread
(6,896 posts)call centers in place, waiting to help represent your interests as a taxpaying citizen of the USA
secondwind
(16,903 posts)Midnight Writer
(21,745 posts)She proposed a fix through the ACA (Obamacare). Let's see if she elaborates.
McCamy Taylor
(19,240 posts)Midnight Writer
(21,745 posts)Hope I don't get banned.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)"tax incentives" for big pharma
McCamy Taylor
(19,240 posts)priced due to trickery. A generic manufacturer controls the precursor ingredient for doxy and the price went up 10 times. A company used lawyers to keep any other company from manufacturing generic Suprax keeping it expensive for an extra decade. A company did a trial of a generic (colchicine) in a new dose---and get an FDA patent on an old med.
And this is not new. It has been going on for years. The Bush FDA banned three old generics that were competing with Glaxo-Smith Kline's patented products. FDA official quits and where does he go to work?
still_one
(92,130 posts)something about it.
They really have to pass legislation to make this kind of price gouging a criminal offense with very heavy fines.
The only other alternative is for consumers to find a reliable pharmacy in Canada or overseas
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)Americans are price gouged by ALL the Corporations. This same reported medicine is less then $2.00 a tab in Canada. Even $13.50 was to high.
still_one
(92,130 posts)Sunlei
(22,651 posts)We Americans got cut off by "Drug Corporation Congress".
still_one
(92,130 posts)that information should be easy enough to find through google
Here is a link to give you a general overview:
http://www.elderlawanswers.com/buying-prescription-drugs-from-canada-legal-or-illegal-1204
Here is an article from consumers report telling you what accreditations to look for, and precautions to take:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2011/10/save-money-by-ordering-drugs-from-canada-not-so-fast/index.htm
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)From FDA ref page http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/Transparency/Basics/ucm194904.htm
Is it legal for me to personally import drugs?
En Español1
In most circumstances, it is illegal for individuals to import drugs into the United States for personal use. This is because drugs from other countries that are available for purchase by individuals often have not been approved by FDA for use and sale in the United States. For example, if a drug is approved by Health Canada (FDAs counterpart in Canada) but has not been approved by FDA, it is an unapproved drug in the United States and, therefore, illegal to import. FDA cannot ensure the safety and effectiveness of drugs that it has not approved.
FDA, however, has a policy explaining that it typically does not object to personal imports of drugs that FDA has not approved under certain circumstances, including the following situation:
The drug is for use for a serious condition for which effective treatment is not available in the United States;
There is no commercialization or promotion of the drug to U.S. residents;
The drug is considered not to represent an unreasonable risk;
The individual importing the drug verifies in writing that it is for his or her own use, and provides contact information for the doctor providing treatment or shows the product is for the continuation of treatment begun in a foreign country; and
Generally, not more than a 3-month supply of the drug is imported.
Dustlawyer
(10,495 posts)Do it for medicines that people need to live and its ok!
Liberty Belle
(9,534 posts)Shameful for the govt. to allow this to happen.
tecelote
(5,122 posts)Why can't we buy from Canada, Mexico or Europe?
Buying prescription drugs from any pharmacy outside the U.S. is against federal law.
CurtEastPoint
(18,639 posts)ProfessorGAC
(64,995 posts)Why someone did not go to jail over willfully and illegally extending the life of a patent is disappointing.
I was involved as a witness in a restraint of trade case in federal court where the defendant got sued because they refused to collude with another company to fix a price which effectively extended the term of a patent since expired.
That side won the case simply because the plaintiff had no standing due to the shenanigans They tried to pull. Since they didn't succeed no charges were brought, but the judge read them the riot act.
TygrBright
(20,756 posts)There is no life-form lower than a Big Pharma executive deciding that profits outweigh lives.
None.
disgustedly,
Bright
passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)So this hit me particularly hard. I am now on prednisone every day to keep my albuterol use down. It IS saving me money, but being on prednisone every day for the rest of my life scares the hell out of me. I did get steriod psychosis from it once in the hospital (much higher doses). I also tore a leg muscle once while on prednisone at higher doses than I use now. It is just not good for the human body. I am extremely low dose now, just for maintenance. But it still scares me.
And the new HFA inhalers (now over $50 ea) just plain do not work like the old ones that used to be $15 ea., so I have to use a lot more than you are supposed to use.
I will never get over being pissed about this.
McCamy Taylor
(19,240 posts)I predict that the day Xaralto goes on generic the FDA will ban it. Who wants a blood thinner which can not be revered in cases of emergency and which you can not monitor to make sure that patients are actually taking it? Scary.
still_one
(92,130 posts)course.
Not sure if I understand your post or the context of the word "revered". I think you meant "reserved"?
They also have to provide easier access for consumers to European and Canadian drug prices.
Ilsa
(61,694 posts)Reversed with vitamin K or something else in an emergency.
still_one
(92,130 posts)still_one
(92,130 posts)streamline the generic process.
I wonder if the President can issue an executive order against this price gouging
What needs to be done is legislation to prevent this type of price gouging
BumRushDaShow
(128,831 posts)it's the same issue that has befallen vaccines and some orphan drugs - big pharma don't make enough money (in their business models) off these types of products to justify continued production, so they stop making them. And that leads to shortages and/or exorbitant prices. The President can't issue any EO on this type of thing.
What may have to happen (which is going on now for certain products like vaccines) is government subsidies to companies that make designated products and/or the government buys the products for reserve. Of course there are issues with that as well.
Turbineguy
(37,317 posts)After all, aren't we on this planet to make profits from doing harm to others?
IcyPeas
(21,857 posts).....
Drug companies are acting much like a cartel such as OPEC, says Stephen Schondelmeyer, a pharmaceutical economist at the University of Minnesota. He says the companies must figure "if we all keep moving [our prices] up and nobody moves down, we can get away with raising the price, because if a person has multiple sclerosis, what other choice do they have?"
Last year, new drugs to treat hepatitis C at a cost of $80,000 or more also sparked an anxious discussion about high drug prices. At least those drugs cure the disease, and by so doing reduce future health-care costs. But that's not true for multiple sclerosis drugs.
passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)This is the bright young (hedge fund manager) who quit banking to start up this new pharma company by buying the patent for this drug and raising it's price.
Doesn't he look smart and cool and savvy?
Fuck him. This is just another way for the 1%ers to stay at the top. It's a new trend now, to switch from banking (stricter rules don't let you rip people off quite as much as before) to pharma, where you can still rip people off because...well, their lives depend on it.
God this makes me sick!
Although some price increases have been caused by shortages, others have resulted from a business strategy of buying old neglected drugs and turning them into high-priced specialty drugs.Martin Shkreli, the founder and chief executive of Turing, said that the drug is so rarely used that the impact on the health system would be minuscule and that Turing would use the money it earns to develop better treatments for toxoplasmosis, with fewer side effects.
This isnt the greedy drug company trying to gouge patients, it is us trying to stay in business, Mr. Shkreli said.
from link in OP
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/21/business/a-huge-overnight-increase-in-a-drugs-price-raises-protests.html?_r=0
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Someone ask Trump.
Dan
(3,546 posts)out of medicine!
C Moon
(12,212 posts)How do these people sleep?
wdkellysr
(4 posts)My prescription of colchicine (generic) went from 0 to $150 co pay 30 day supply, no generic available.
area51
(11,905 posts)knew this would happen. Until our govt. tells big pharma to stop gouging, it'll continue.
See sig below.
MisterP
(23,730 posts)walk off even richer--and then they go and fawn and do little dances and lick hands, because they know we'll let them let Wall Street
hollysmom
(5,946 posts)I don't think there is any excuse for that.
Cassidy
(202 posts)The generic drug that I must take has quadrupled in price in the last 10 months.
This drug has been in use since the 1960s. I have to take it for epilepsy, so I, like the thousands of others who take it, expect to take it for the rest of my life. The insurance company claims it is shortages of raw materials and they have to pass along the price increase, but could not tell me which raw materials were in short supply. I know people with other diseases who have experienced similar exorbitant increases in their medications, whether or not they are generic.
A few months ago, when the price had only tripled, I wrote to Senator Bennet (D-CO) and got an irrelevant form letter in return. I wrote to Senator Gardner (R-CO) and got nothing in response.
What use is "health insurance" if you can't afford the co-pay for the medicine?
Stuart G
(38,414 posts)Lytex
(14 posts)I take an old drug for rheumatoid arthritis, plaquenil, which my pharmacist said is in danger of being tripled in price. Fortunately, he was able to find it for me, but every time I ask for a refill, I wonder if I will be able to get it. This is nothing but unrestrained greed, and our lawmakers, except for Bernie Sanders, are doing nothing about it. They're killing the golden goose, the productivity of the American economy, and with it the people who sustain it. It can't get much worse.
Sorry to read this and I hope that you will be able to continue to get the medication that you need!
orpupilofnature57
(15,472 posts)Enrique
(27,461 posts)he sounds a lot like Donald Trump
http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/why-would-martin-shkreli-hike-old-drug-price-5000-only-moron-would-ask/2015-09-20
In an exchange on Twitter, Shkreli first noted that engaging with me would make my head "spin." (We have a history. Reporting a recent lawsuit Retrophin's investors filed against Shkreli--including accusations of looting the company, which Shkreli has denied--the CEO called me an idiot. Twitter is not for the thin-skinned.)
"It's a great business decision that also benefits all of our stakeholders," Shkreli then retorted. "I don't expect the likes of you to process that."
His next remark: "You are such a moron."
flobee1
(870 posts)Shkreli then retorted. "I don't expect the likes of you to process that.
Mr Shkreli, the day is coming soon where there will be people at your front door with torches and pitchforks. They are going to show you the same mercy you have shown to those you have chosen ro steal from. You are an evil, greedy leech and i wouldnt piss on you if you were on fire. Your day us coming, but i dont expect the likes of you to proccess that.
Divernan
(15,480 posts)By their occupations shall ye know them.
William Seger
(10,778 posts)... and it illustrates why regulation is society's only defense against predators like you. And fuck the moron Libertarians who are too stupid to figure out what would happen to THEM without it.
grahampuba
(169 posts)"Martin Shkreli (born April 1, 1983) is a Albanian American[1] hedge fund manager, Nazi, P.O.S., and entrepreneur, specializing in healthcare and is the founder of MSMB Capital Management, Retrophin, Inc. and Turing Pharmaceuticals AG."
nichomachus
(12,754 posts)Up against the wall, motherfucker. Want a blindfold?
FuzzyRabbit
(1,967 posts)I'm not kidding. It's way past time to bring it out of storage.
DetlefK
(16,423 posts)xocet
(3,871 posts)Frequently Asked Questions on Patents and Exclusivity
...
2. How long is a patent granted for?
Patents expire 20 years from the date of filing. Many other factors can affect the duration of a patent.
...
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DevelopmentApprovalProcess/ucm079031.htm#How%20many%20years%20is%20a%20patent%20granted%20for?
nichomachus
(12,754 posts)Someone was trying to explain it to me, but it's basically a flim-flam and I didn't really understand it.
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)on CanadaDrugs.com
I use Canadian pharmacies for all my maintenance prescriptions, it saves me a bundle. Of course, in this case, you don't have three weeks to wait before you treat toxoplasmosis, but if I knew someone suffering from AIDS or cancer, it would be a simple thing to get a prescription, have it filled, then use it if necessary. Or perhaps some sort of patient cooperative could be formed to have access to a supply in case of emergency.
FreakinDJ
(17,644 posts)They simply tell big pharma sell the drugs at a fair price or we won't recognize your patent
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)I used to go to Mexico for my medications -- 1/4 or less of the price paid here in the U.S. Unfortunately, Mexico has gotten so crazy I no longer feel safe going there.
customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)And Canadian pharmacies beat anything that I can get with my plan, even well under the co-pays and certainly under the deductibles.
gregcrawford
(2,382 posts)... of pure, undiluted evil. THIS is predatory corporatism at its worst. This kind of price gouging USED to be illegal. Then Republicans happened.
The only thing evil needs in order to prevail is for "good" people to do nothing.
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)And the Democrats did exactly what? People need to wake up, BOTH parties are hopelessly corrupt and busy doing the bidding of the .01%. And getting paid handsomely for it I might add.
gregcrawford
(2,382 posts)... re-read my last line. And note the quotes.
You're right; the entire system has been corrupted. But while there are a few Dems whom I believe are relatively untainted, there are NO Republicans that aren't rotten down to their DNA.
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)by our bought-and-sold Congress. Political partisanship only serves THEIR interests.
gregcrawford
(2,382 posts)mrmpa
(4,033 posts)$38, this month it was $44/ an almost 20% increase, Why?
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)greatlaurel
(2,004 posts)The very best way to get the reps and senators attention is a handwritten (typed letters get the next most attention) letter sent to their Washington offices. We need to report back when we hear back from them. If you cannot afford a stamp or do not have the time to send a snail mail letter, then send an email. It all helps.
This type of profiteering kills people. Refusing to allow hospitals to stock this medication means very sick people have to wait to get the medicine which means some people will die while waiting on the medication.
Here is the link to the mailing addresses of US Senators:
http://www.contactsenators.com/senator-mailing-addresses
Here is the link to the find your US representative, just need to put in your zip code:
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
We can make a lot of noise about this and get something changed. If the news media hears that Congress is getting a lot of real mail on this issue, it will get some more media coverage and could even become a real campaign issue.
If you get a non-answer to this issue from your elected reps, then write a letter to a newspaper about the lack of interest from your elected representatives.
You all have homework assignments. Report back soon on the action you took. Thanks!
oldandhappy
(6,719 posts)craig@turingpharma.com
Join me. We can being change if we work together.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)visit. I don't see any way out of this mess that doesn't involve a guillotine.
wordpix
(18,652 posts)but the insurance cos. are willing to pay out the $20K. What a scam. Would love to know WTH is going on. I told my senator I think they're claiming the $20K/round and when the gov. negotiates less for O-care or Medicaid, the provider and drug cos. use the difference as a tax deduction due to their "loss."
Lychee2
(405 posts)Be sure to wash your hands thoroughly after cleaning your cat's litter box. Cat feces are a source of infection.
Maineman
(854 posts)So, is our health care system run by organized crime???
Cal33
(7,018 posts)already started their investigations.
progressoid
(49,978 posts)Puzzledtraveller
(5,937 posts)when they say all their drugs are safe.
Response to newthinking (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)writer not writing
(41 posts)The Wizard
(12,541 posts)freethought
(2,457 posts)Has anyone seen this guy!? He'a f&%#$*@g BOY! Not only that he's an obnoxious little shit!
Yahoo has an article on this kid. Try the "Damned Kid" link below.
Damned Kid
niyad
(113,257 posts)Lychee2
(405 posts)This post was mistakenly locked as a dupe. But it is a different story. It is about CEO Martin Shkreli's "defense" of his price hike on TV. Video included. Be sure to watch it.
When former hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli took over the rights to Daraprim as founder of Turing Pharmaceuticals, he conveniently raised the price "overnight" to the all American tune of an "almost 5,500 percent increase" in price. Daraprim is used to treat toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection that's capable of causing life-threatening complications in infants and for "people with compromised immune systems," such as those with AIDS and even "certain" cancer patients.
This isnt the greedy drug company trying to gouge patients, it is us trying to stay in business, Shkreli told the New York Times. It really doesnt make sense to get any criticism for this. Shkreli... is clearly perturbed by the fact that people object to the price hike at all.
Shortly after the price hike spawned a lot of stories like this one, Shkreli took to television in an attempt to clarify the necessity of the 5,500 percent increase and voice his support of a profit-driven healthcare market. Here is the video:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-09-21/why-turing-increased-price-of-daraprim-over-500-
http://news.yahoo.com/young-gentleman-buys-rights-aids-191020569.html
Marty McGraw
(1,024 posts)Youtube link with an interview on CNBC with the psychopath
Lychee2
(405 posts)Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)This is way better than Europe!!!
JCMach1
(27,556 posts)Virtually all corporations now seek monopoly, or near monopoly status...
brentspeak
(18,290 posts)And policy-holders will pick up the rest of the tab.
More proof we need single-payer health care.
Unknown Beatle
(2,672 posts)For starters, people like that smug asshole is one of the things that's wrong on every level.
That asshole is a psychopath, he'd be perfectly happy to see people die than to leave the price of the medicine at $13.50.
But for fucks sake! From $13.50 to $750 dollars per pill? Please karma, do your thing to this evil piece of shit.
Lychee2
(405 posts)But he is just a symptom. The problem is a system that rewards these guys because it feeds on callousness and greed.
libodem
(19,288 posts)This is like war profiteering only on misery. That catshit thing can infect your brain.
GliderGuider
(21,088 posts)Either way they feast on human flesh. Their value systems are rooted in this socio-ecological fact.
LeftOfWest
(482 posts)FUCK YOURSELVES.
forest444
(5,902 posts)Get'em Canadian.