I Am Flabbergasted!!!!!!!!! Prescription Cost....

[SunshineSilkies]

As an update...he called his doctors office this morning after getting the outrageous price from the pharmacy. The doc was out today...he was told by the doctors office to continue taking the Cipro and double up on it today till tomorrow when the doctor was there!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They just took him off of that at the ER because that was what they said caused the C/Diff in the first place because this was his 3rd round of it..doctors office never called back to say if they got in touch with the doctor.....SO frustrating for him. He called Walmart, and the script was some cheaper than his favorite pharmacy so since it is this time of night, he's decided to wait till morning to talk with the doctor. I am so concerned for him because I think that it is terrible that the price of a med makes you put your health at risk because you are trying to figure out where you are going to get the money to pay for it!!!!

Like one of the previous posts said, this is a growing concern in nursing homes and health care facilities. I had never even heard of it till yesterday...................

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
That's not always true. Each insurance company has a formulary that includes brand name. If this drug is non formulary, then the patient is stuck with the cost unless it is part of their "tier" structure. Rx insurance is usually tiered, for both PPO and HMO. My tier is $10/$25/$50 - generic/name brand/non formulary. I have a VERY good plan. My last plan was tiered as $5/$50 period. No coverage at all for non-formulary drugs. Your Maxalt is a brand name that is on 99% of all forumlaries. Migraines SUCK!

OP - I would call the company tomorrow morning that makes the drug and ask for prescription assistance. Several companies are doing this lately with the economy in the tank.

 

[mom'sfolly]

It may cost $25 million to take a new drug to market, but with the right drug, the profits are amazing! Here are just a few stories about some widely advertised drugs and what they do for the companies profit margins. An awful lot of initial drug testing is also done at public universities.

Vancomycin is also a very old drug, developed in the 1950s, and is no longer even patented. It also has a reputation of being ototoxic and nephrotoxic, which is why it wasn't extensively used for many years.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/20/AR2009112003514.html

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a1U3vuXKOjwE&refer=us

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n33_v14/ai_21239836/

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article549230.ece

 

[katheria]

2400 not out of the ordinary

these companies are out of control for sure..........

most antibiotics (common) cost less than 1/4 cent per pill to manufacture.......but the markup is over 1000%....
sis in law works for a manufacture...........

my step grandfather has glaucoma and another eye problem.......

he has to have a shot in each eye once a month...........

total cost per shot $4780..... x2

 

[HennyJenny]

OP - untreated c/diff will lead to a hospitalization where his prescriptions will be taken care of. Dangerous stuff that. I'm fairly certain his doctors must realize that too. Cipro cleaned the good bacteria out of his bowel - but without the Cipro he may be more vulnerable due to decrease immune function from the c/diff. One of the best things you can do for yourself when taking an antibiotic is to eat live-culture yogurt to replace good bacteria.

 

[moonlyghtegirl]

Quote:
1) Your contract may stipulate that option for you, but it it not true for everyone's insurance coverage.

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2) As for the mark-up on medications, capitalism is legal, and the drug companies do have the right to make a profit as they are responsible to their shareholders to do so, and they have the right to recover losses in this manner, to help make up for the 100 medications they research for every 1 medication that makes it to market. If and/or when we go to a one-payer system, there will be less innovation in drug therapy because of the decreased opportunity to make a profit, and therefore fewer medication options to treat disease.
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3) As for keeping and treating the patient in the hospital, it might actually be more dangerous to do so, as he may have a different, new or resistant strain that could be introduced into the hospital, or he could pick up a resistant strain there. The hospital is a very dangerous place to try to get well.

(editied to add #3)

 

[speckledhen]

2400 not out of the ordinary

Personally, I think it's criminal.

I'm all for capitalism, don't get me wrong, but no one should suffer and/or even die just because they are not rich. If it was me, I'd have to just die. I wouldn't pay that and put my family in hock. Thank goodness my DH stayed in the Air Force and retired. They reneged on the free medical for the rest of his life (one-sided gov't contracts, of course) but our insurance is affordable and prescriptions are very cheap.​

 

[sunflowerenvy]

when there is a new drug that come on the market . there wont be any generic drugs for 2 yrs . and the doctors try to push the patient throat.
my hubby meds would cost us $ 3,000 a month

if with a name brands, we could not afford it,

then we found online pharmacy that work with companies outside the states and it bought it down to $ 647.00 every 3 months.

then we move to a small town doctor and she rewritten his meds and now we are paid only $ 90.00 for every 3 months and one of his prescription is free from the company now. and he doing the same as if he was taking the the names bands on his meds.

now i have my love of life forever

come america wake up and fight for lowers drugs.

 

[schellie69]

When we lost our insurance due to DH losing his job I found out that there are different prices for meds one that is for people with insurance and one for people without insurance. I had to change 2 of my meds due to costing over $300 each I could not afford those luckily now I pay less for all my meds then I did when we had insurance. I know that the doctors office usually has samples of new meds, that way people can try them see that they work then get a written script not realizing that the generics work just as well.

 

[AHappychick]

I thought paying $200 for 10 pills (antibiotic for pneumonia) was bad, OMG that is awful, I am so glad that the health care bill was passed even if it is just a watered down version of it. Do you know that although we have a high life expectancy here in the US we actually have a lower quality of life (health that is) than all the other countries that we bad mouth for having socialized medicine. We may live as long as they do but we don't live as well and are not as healthy. That is a fact.

I cant imagine what I would do if they gave me a bill that high. The first time I filled my ds monthly script of singular and flovent I was hit with a bill for $350 I pay that every single month. Now you would think I don't have insurance, but I do I pay for myself and ds and it costs me $2800 per month and no prescription coverage included. I have been with Oxford since I was 19 and at that time I was given a choice
1. be able to see doctors out of network
2. have prescription coverage

well not needing meds at the time I chose the package that supposedly let me see what ever specialist I needed whether or not they were part of Oxford. But somehow that has been dwindled out to the point where I struggle to find a dr, or to get permission even with a referral for any specialists like the neurosurgeon for my back. Anyway it amazes me how messed up our system is and how devastating getting sick is if you live in the US ( well not Hawaii they have had mandated health care for 40 years and they all are better covered for so much less that what we pay)

I pray that when the elections are over that the republicans do not mess with the health care bill and give it time to see what happens going back to the way things were and still are is not an option things have to change and at least this is some change. Although it is almost never discussed rationally or with any certain straight forward ideas. The country seems focused on all the wrong things, all political parties make me sick each one is worse than the other.

As for the cost of the drug there is no one that can convince me that so much research in an antibiotic (something that has been around for over 60 years) could possibly justify the price she was charged. Maybe if this was some new cancer drug and even then I just dont see how. The pharmaceutical companies (which there is really only 3 or 4) are not hurting for money believe me.