Prices Soar on Drugs

[katkat]

Source: New York Times

Prices for a small but growing number of brand-name drugs have risen more than twofold in recent years as drug makers seek to squeeze greater profits out of often small-selling but vital medicines, according to Congressional investigators. Medicines like Adderall for attention deficit disorder, Inderal for chest pain and Sumycin for infections were among 416 brand-name drug products whose makers or distributors raised prices at least once by 100 percent or more from 2000 to 2008, investigators found.

...the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America e-mailed a statement...“Companies make price adjustments independently as a result of market forces, which include everything from patent expirations” to the substantial research costs associated with discovering medicines, the statement said.

...prices of 26 brand-name drugs rose more than tenfold. The largest price increase found by the investigators was about 4,200 percent.

The drugs’ makers were not always behind the price rises. In more than half of the cases disclosed by investigators, the price increases were made by a middleman that bought the medicines from manufacturers and repackaged them for hospitals or doctors... “It is hard to find a good-faith explanation for why drug prices could go up this much,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York. “This report will lead to a strong demand for action by Congress.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/business/11price.html

---

A few years ago I was naive enough to believe that rubbish about research costs, until I read an article in the Times about how astronomically the prices of some cancer drugs had been jacked up and how BigPharma reps actually laughed to the reporter about the excess profit they were making.

It's hard to express my outrage at this blatant profiteering that will deprive many people of health care. Just in my own case, I skipped taking a migraine medicine the other day because of the cost ($40 a dose), and I am waiting to see if my new doctor will jump through the insurance company hoops to get a different med approved that has now jumped to about $380 a month and has gone to preauthorization required by UHC, which has a history of denying meds needed even with a doctor's repeated requests. And I am much luckier than some. I can live with migraines at the frequency I get them, and I can afford the $380 a month for awhile, although it is about 10% of my income.

[ixion]

1. research costs, my arse

drug companies are just as obnoxious and greedy as the F.I.R.E industry.

[No Elephants]

4. It's not only the drug companies. Our government is an accomplice.

For just a couple of examples--

1/ recent defeat of the drug re-importation bill

2/ the Food and Drug Administration dragging its feet on testing generics that would be cheaper than the very expensive brand name biologic drugs that have done wonders for cancer patients, arthritis patients, etc.

http://www.drugs.com/news/aarp-urges-congress-pave-way-biologics-5457.html

http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourhealth/policy/articles/new_bill_would_clear.html

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/151536.php

http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourhealth/policy/articles/the_cost_of_biologics.html

http://www.aarpsegundajuventud.org/english/health/2009-SUM/biologics_hcr.html

http://www.aarpmagazine.org/health/biologics_what_price_a_miracle.html


This bill, whose introduction was overdue and which has languished for 9 months and counting, does not become another victim of "health care reform," like the drug re-importation bill. Stay tuned, I guess. Some of us tend to think that our national priorities are screwed up only because of war--we can't have both guns and butter at the same time. Maybe, though, we have both war and screwed up priorites for the same reason. Both make well connected folks richer.


Why do well-provided for people who let folks suffer and die for some extra money not all die from total inablity to sleep?

:shrug:

[ixion]

5. you'll get no argument from me there

I agree.

This is why I'm so avidly against the so-called "reform" bill, because it leaves an already massively gamed system in tact.

[wordpix]

7. defeat of drug reimportation bill was big & we have 30 Dems to "thank" for it

In my state of CT, both Lie-man AND Dodd voted against the bill---and we know what happened to Dodd. I wrote his office immediately after and told them I would be voting for someone else in the primary---seems others did, too.

As for Lie-man, he will get his in 2012. A LOT of people are working to unseat him already, and organization is happening.

[shopgreen]

18. The WH worked against it also. Just ask the Senator from ND.

[asjr]

2. In one month my antidepressant drug

went from $39.00 to $59.00 and that is on my Medicare Part D. My other drugs are under $10.00. We, as patriotic Americans just don't matter anymore.

[secondwind]

3. They need to stop this s***. You can get Lamisil pills in Dominican Republic for 1/3

the price they charge here!!! It's ridiculous. A 1-month regimen of Lamisil costs $600 here, $200 or less in Dominican Republic.

[Ghost_of_Smedley]

6. Big Pharma`s Blank Check

Big Pharma,along with Big Finance,Big Oil and Big
Defense[War],own and run this country because of the
bribes[lobbying money]they`ve handed out to our
alleged"public servants"in"The Good Ole U.S.of
A.,-Land of the Best Representation that Money Can Buy"

[wordpix]

8. one pill per month for osteoporosis= $100+ Thanks, Dem senators for defeating drug reimportation

:puke:

[izquierdista]

16. Vitamin D

But they can't charge $100 for that. Here's a reference: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/490672

[PSPS]

9. "This report will lead to a strong demand for action by Congress."

"It is hard to find a good-faith explanation for why drug prices could go up this much," said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York. "This report will lead to a strong demand for action by Congress."

HAHA! Yeah, hold on everyone. Here comes more of that "action by Congress!"

[LiberalEsto]

10. Before GWBush, our prescription co-pay was $5

After 8 years of their evil empire, we are paying as much as $100 for prescriptions because they're not "in the formulary", and a lot more than $5 for the others. And we feel grateful because we're not paying the full $300 or whatever because we have health insurance.

People don't count for jack-shit in this country, unless they're bankers or CEOs.

[CountAllVotes]

15. my plan pays for a 34-day supply

and I pay through the ass for this plan. I had an RX for quantity 100 (a little less than a full 34-day supply) and was given quantity 90. I've bitched and made calls, etc. and I cannot get the other 10 pills that I PAID for.

:argh:

What can I do? Nothing it seems after making too damn many calls while in a semi-dilapidated post-surgical state and in severe pain at the moment. :cry:

:dem: :kick:

[dreamnightwind]

23. CountAllPills

suggestion for a new handle...

[TheMadMonk]

11. Welcome to the America "everyone" thought they wanted.

The America where where one "made it" as a result of one's own hard work, and no one could freeload off that hard work and benefit at your expense.

Well poor people anyways. The bosses and owners somehow have always been exempt. Perhaps because they doled out the jobs which let you "make it" through your hard work.

[BP2]

12. Thank the gods the HCR Bill allows for Reimportation of Prescriptions from Canada. Oh, wait, it

doesn't. That was killed in the Senate on Dec. 15. The Senate also killed the Public Option, a cap on Insurance policies, pre-existing condition waiver for adults, etc.

How about screening exams so Medicare patients can find ailments, like early diabetes, before the expenses and their health gets really out of hand. Nope.

What is wrong with this picture?

[reggie the dog]

13. What??? Drugs are cheap, the illegal kind anyway

Afghan hash for between 4 and 7 euros the gram.... Heroin half of what it was a few years ago.......wait, those all seem to come from one country and are flooding the European market....HMMMM?

[Stumbler]

14. Two thoughts on this

1. "Re-importation" is the most absurd idea since outsourced labor. We're making drugs in the US and selling them at home and abroad. But somehow it's CHEAPER to send them to Canada and ship them back to the US, rather than just selling them directly to us? Blatant excessive profiteering from a severely flawed system, imo.

2. On "research costs," a couple years ago I read a study that stated the majority of "research" for new medications was conducted at universities who then sell the patents to the BigPharma companies to supplement their strained budgets. In other words, our tax dollars are being used to discover many new medications, and due to our perpetual under-funding of higher education institutions, they HAVE to sell the patents to the companies that then act as a middle-man and gouge us, the American consumers. We're paying twice for one product... Absolutely absurd.

[FiveGoodMen]

17. Excellent points

[Jennicut]

20. They should be cheaper here to begin with, good point

I can't not take any of my medication, at least the insulin. I have tried playing around with taking less insulin and eating smaller meals though. Got to spread it out as long as I can.

[JoeyT]

25. I'm not sure about this,

but aren't the drugs from Canada cheaper because of consumer protection laws they have?
I agree with you, btw. It's stupid for something to be cheaper after you ship it to another country and ship it back. Even stupider to refuse to allow the practice based on "quality control" when they're made in the same factory.

[Zhade]

19. Gosh, what a surprise! Think they might keep going up once we're forced to buy insurance?

Naaaaaaaaah. No way heartless corporations would do that to us.

:sarcasm:

[blue neen]

21. I understand the point you are trying to make, but there are generic equivalents for those 3 drugs.

The generic versions of Adderall, Inderal, and Sumycin are all relatively inexpensive medications.

In fact, Propanolol and Tetracycline are both on our local Giant Eagle's $4.00 list. The generic Adderall would be a little more costly, because it is a controlled substance.

I hope you find an effective treatment for your headaches. Migraines are so miserable.

[sofa king]

22. In a related story, a quarter bag of reefer still costs 50 bucks.

[Divine Discontent]

24. and the WH needs to come down on these people to, along with the bailed out firms!

[Vidar]

26. Thank you, Obama.