Actually it's less than that since they are patented before the approval process begins. So more likely 4 or 5 years.
The nonsense of precription medicine costs
- Thread starter LVSteve
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Actually it's less than that since they are patented before the approval process begins. So more likely 4 or 5 years.
Glad I have Tricare for life.
Only cost for me is the gas to travel to the AF base Pharmacy since I don't live more then 25 miles from the base or they would mail them to me.
Only cost for me is the gas to travel to the AF base Pharmacy since I don't live more then 25 miles from the base or they would mail them to me.
DWalt
Member
My doctor started me on Farxiga yesterday for a kidney condition (it is actually a diabetic drug but it works on some kidney conditions also). When I picked it up at the CVS yesterday, the generic version of Farxiga cost me $25 for a one month supply as a co-pay after insurance. I asked the pharmacist what the cost would be for name-brand Farxiga to someone without drug coverage. He told me $640 for a 30-day supply. Essentially over $20 per pill. Unbelievable. For some unknown reason, my insurance will not pay for a 90 day supply like it does for all my other prescriptions. I haven't yet checked on why that is.
NFrameFred
Member
Yup!
WARNING !
May cause : rash, trouble breathing or shortness of breath, body aches, dizziness or sudden fainting, elevated blood pressure, dangerously low blood pressure, hallucinations, sterility, rickets, chapped lips, agitation , sleeplessness, swelling of joints and/or extremities, stroke, paralysis, loss of function, blindness, dry mouth, heart palpitations, impotence, in-grown toenails, flatulence, post nasal drip, inflammation of the heart or lungs, swelling of the lips or tongue, vision problems, cramps, oozing pustules, change of pigmentation, hair loss, dry scalp, bad breath, hardening of the arteries, fever, tendonitis, blurred vision, slurring of speech, forgetfulness, hearing problems, loss of equilibrium, singing German marching songs, or even sudden death.
. . . . . . . . other than that, it's GREAT STUFF !
.
This company should start making ammo too!
DWalt
Member
I take the same four generics. My copay is $0.00.
Shop different pharmacies.
In my area different pharmacies have different price schedules especially for the more expensive ones. It pays to shop around.
Also some medical practices have deals with some pharmacies. For example, my mom had to get expensive. even with the copay eye drops for her cat surgeries and later retina surgery were very expensive. They told us to go to a pharmacy that in the same parking lot as the med practice. Long story short, what would've been a $150+ copay for two different eyedrops, ended up being $22 - with coupons.
Look for coupons, too.
My mom is BP meds and another med that keeps her alive, I paid, out of pocket to have an extra 2 month supply on hand incase there are are supply chain issues. Even out of pocket, it wasn't too bad.
You all know that most prescription drugs are made overseas, like China and India, right. Puerto Rico used to be a manufacturing hub until it got wiped out by a hurricane.
In my area different pharmacies have different price schedules especially for the more expensive ones. It pays to shop around.
Also some medical practices have deals with some pharmacies. For example, my mom had to get expensive. even with the copay eye drops for her cat surgeries and later retina surgery were very expensive. They told us to go to a pharmacy that in the same parking lot as the med practice. Long story short, what would've been a $150+ copay for two different eyedrops, ended up being $22 - with coupons.
Look for coupons, too.
My mom is BP meds and another med that keeps her alive, I paid, out of pocket to have an extra 2 month supply on hand incase there are are supply chain issues. Even out of pocket, it wasn't too bad.
You all know that most prescription drugs are made overseas, like China and India, right. Puerto Rico used to be a manufacturing hub until it got wiped out by a hurricane.
And they have to pay to defend against lawsuits, legitimate and otherwise.
The U.S. subsidizes the health care of all those socialized countries. The the profits are entirely on the backs of the U.S. citizen. Furthermore, thanks to the insurance companies, the pool of customers from which they get all their profits shrinks again. That is source of the problem, not the drug companies.
It is not the drug companies. Sure they get away with what they can, but they control our Congress. The greed is in campaign donations, and of course the recipients are not going to put a stop to it.
Every president uses the cost of drugs as a platform to run on, and every elected president does nothing. We need competition from Canada and other quality Countries.
We need campaign contribution reform, competition, and/or socialized medicine. We do not have the worlds best system.
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After reading this thread I went and looked at Pfizer's financials as an example. I could look at the rest but I'm not going to, they are likely similar and it's boring.
I think it's not accurate to say they spent more on advertising or marketing than they did R&D. They don't break it out that way, it's lumped into a category of expenses. I did find this in their last annual report:
"Selling, informational and administrative costs are expensed as incurred. Among other things, these expenses include the internal and external
costs of marketing, advertising, shipping and handling, IT and legal defense. Advertising expenses totaled approximately $2.8 billion in 2022,
$2.0 billion in 2021 and $1.8 billion in 2020. Production costs are expensed as incurred and the costs of TV, radio, and other electronic media and publications are expensed when the related advertising occurs."
All that's lumped into one category. They did mention there that advertising was $2.8 Billion. R&D was $11.428 Billion in that annual report.
I'm not buying it. It's a grossly simplistic analysis of a highly complex accounting system. But the article was written by a pharmacist, not an accountant.
This is not to say that our system isn't completely whack.
I think it's not accurate to say they spent more on advertising or marketing than they did R&D. They don't break it out that way, it's lumped into a category of expenses. I did find this in their last annual report:
"Selling, informational and administrative costs are expensed as incurred. Among other things, these expenses include the internal and external
costs of marketing, advertising, shipping and handling, IT and legal defense. Advertising expenses totaled approximately $2.8 billion in 2022,
$2.0 billion in 2021 and $1.8 billion in 2020. Production costs are expensed as incurred and the costs of TV, radio, and other electronic media and publications are expensed when the related advertising occurs."
All that's lumped into one category. They did mention there that advertising was $2.8 Billion. R&D was $11.428 Billion in that annual report.
I'm not buying it. It's a grossly simplistic analysis of a highly complex accounting system. But the article was written by a pharmacist, not an accountant.
This is not to say that our system isn't completely whack.
charlie sherrill
Member
I had a script with a local super market pharmacy. The cost was $16.00 every month. Insurance wouldn't pay for it.(Cialis) I guess they treated it as a recreational drug, but it was prescribed by my Urologist for an enlarged prostrate. This place was the cheapest place around to get this drug. Aldi bought out the grocery chain. The first thing they did was shut down the pharmacy. All the scripts from the pharmacy were sent to CVS. "This is now where you have to get your script." A few days before the script ran out I called CVS to refill it and ask about the price. They quoted me $1,050.00. She told me they actually had people who paid that. I told them I wasn't going to pay that and the lady on the other end of the phone said "Oh wait, we have a coupon for that one." I asked how much with the coupon. She quoted $750.00. Uh, no. I called a local Mom and Pop Pharmacy and they quoted me $22.00. I had been using Walmart Pharmacy and got the rest of my stuff priced with Mom and Pop and saved over $100.00 a month. Walmart had sorry service anyway. Bottom line, shop around and stay out of CVS. On a similar note: Don't get your car fixed at a new car dealership unless the problem is still under warranty. They're just as bad as some of the pharmacies. Again. shop around.
The United States is one of only a handful of countries that DOES NOT have price caps on prescription medicines. Those multi-billion dollar profits the drug companies make every year come primarily from the U.S.
This is never going to change as long as big pharma owns the U.S. Congress.
I can't say I'm for price caps, because development and approval costs for getting a new drug to market can cost the drug company billions. The pharmaceutical companies are entitled to make a profit, and must; otherwise they will go out of business and there will be no new drugs.
That said, it pisses me off no end seeing endless first class, highly produced prescription drug ads on TV. You and I cannot buy these advertised drugs on our own; they must be be prescribed by a licensed MD. Is the purpose of these ads for us to make a list of the drugs and go to our doc and say "These look great - I want to try them all!" Of course not, but by golly we're paying for those ads in the price of our drugs and/or the price of our insurance.
In fact, we're paying an obscene amount for them. I saw the TV ads for just one med - I forget which one - cost Pfizer $400 million per year!!
That ad expense is a crime in my book.
Physicians can get all the med information and free samples they need from medical journals and the drug sales people who call on them regularly.
I have the best insurance....
....and Medicare and the supplemental insurance. And I have nothing but trouble getting prescriptions. Then at the start of the year, it changed. It's taken me well over a month to get my glucose sensors shipped to me.
....and Medicare and the supplemental insurance. And I have nothing but trouble getting prescriptions. Then at the start of the year, it changed. It's taken me well over a month to get my glucose sensors shipped to me.
DWalt
Member
I use CVS because they are hooked up with my insurer Aetna. And also most of my drugs are generics and Aetna does not require a co-pay or else a low co-pay. But I buy nothing else there. CVS prices are about double vs. WalMart for everything else. My wife is on BCBS, and she gets good deals on her prescription drugs from H-E-B, the big Texas supermarket chain. I do not know of a single Mom'nPop local drug store here in San Antonio. Mostly the choices are Walgreen, CVS, WalMart/Sam's, H-E-B, or Target. We no longer have any Kroger's or Albertson's stores here. They both got run out of town on a rail by WalMart and H-E-B.
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I checked my med bottles for manufacturer. Two were India the other was Ireland. None were USA.
pantannojack
US Veteran
Did Doctors change from self employed to parenting an army of women typists filing their nails for same pay?
Good point.
BUT, nobody needs a VCR just to continue living a relatively healthy life.
I get it. Big Pharma has to recoup the R&D costs for new drugs or there is no incentive for them to do the R&D to develop new drugs.
BUT, trying to recoup all the R&D costs on the back of the American consumer, while at the same time selling those same drugs overseas for just the cost of production is not reasonable.
Charging us 10x the price that they sell the same drugs in other markets around the world is just gouging US.
Those R&D costs should be more evenly distributed to the world-wide market for their products, instead of being charged exclusively to the American public. The country whose economy fosters the production of new innovative drugs shouldn't be penalized for being the economy to foster their development.
That kinda' seems bass-ackwards to me.
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Being a Vet;
My 90 day supply of Elequist at two a day, through the VA is only
$33.
Search "San Antonio Texas pharmacy" and a whole list will show up.
