Discussion»Questions»Health and Wellness» The cost of prescription drugs is so much higher in US than in other countries because our pharmaceutical companies ar greedier. Why else?
That pales in comparison to what you are buying. Most drugs are poison. Half this sh*t that we purchase actually kills us with side-effects. Or it doesn't work. It is usually plain poison that has not been properly researched. How many brands that are here today on TV are GONE tomorrow with warnings that there are class action lawsuits loudly proclaiming that this new drug is killing people.
Anyway, pharmacists are greedy. No denying. Guess who controls the pharmacies. Federal Drug Administration.
I used to buy Latisse to make my eyelashes longer. It is similar to eyedrops. It is expensive and it works. A month supply is about $60.00. You spend $60 a month for long lashes.
Then Uncle Sam decided to market it a different way since it was so popular an item, so Uncle Sam could profit. Now you have to have a prescription for Latiisse, and pay $150.00 for a doctor's exam not covered by any insurance, not even disability. Then instead of the very expensive $60 that people were forking over, the product now costs $150.00 per month for what once cost $60 per month.
This is exactly why I refuse to take anything that hasn't been on the market for at least 15-20 years. I tell my doctors not to prescribe anything new because I will not get it filled.
Thanks for reading that. I was wondering if anyone was going to comment on such a shallow idea as $60 for eyelash growth, but that was the first example that came to mind.
The stuff that is on the market today is just not researched at all. Good idea, Karen, the keeping to the old stuff. And I guess we need to make sure that the old stuff remains the same formula as before. Good luck with that.
Yes. As I was telling Karen, Latisse and eyelashes is really a shallow example of the plight people endure to get chemical help in these United Snakes of America.
Where there is money there is politics and where there is politics there is graft and where there is graft there is even more greed.
Which is again because of gov regulations. There are generics available but because of gov regulations the pharmacy cannot substitute at all. Your doctor must make the script for the generic. The gov is the enforcing a monopoly of these drugs---so they can charge whatever they want.
Ugh, don't remind me. My doctor wanted to add a prescription to hopefully improve upon what I'm already taking.
$1800 per month. FOR THE GENERIC! I literally asked the pharmacist three times to repeat that. And of course my insurance didn't cover it.
Something is very wrong with with this picture.
Now, having said that, I know that part of the reason drug costs are higher in the US is because their pharmaceutical companies are doing the bulk of research and development in order to get new products on the market. Which is an expensive proposition. Most of the drugs tested never even make it through clinical trials.
What the hell do you need that costs that much? Maybe I can find something else. I'm not a doctor, of course, but I do have access to a lot of answers to stuff like alternative meds.
Actually, it's more because in other countries with government-controlled healthcare, those governments negotiate drug prices . In the US, even for Medicare and Medicaid, drugs prices are whatever the companies charge. The law does not allow Medicare to negotiate and Medicare covers whatever the price it. Drug companies are protected by laws like this. They also have a monopoly on a drug for 20 years, so they can keep prices high. In addition, the FDA takes a long time to approve the generic drugs even after the patent expires. R&D costs really aren't the main driver and are sometimes covered by government grants. You can see that US and Canada pay different amounts for the exact same drugs.
We the people should not have to pay for trials that go south. That's their gamble. They can write off losses. I think it sucks big time. Thank you for your thoughtful share LO. That cost is outrageous. In 2008 I had uterine cancer and got to the place where my co-pay abandoned me until I had paid $4500 out of pocket. I arrived to pick my prescription and the gal told me it would be about $2400! I couldn't believe it. She checked with the insurance folks and I had reached that plateau. Every 3 weeks I had to take 27 pills each of which cost $97! That was once chemo started. The pills protected my bladder from dying or something like that. So the next refill was expensive as well but less so and by the time I got to the one after that since I had already paid out the cumulative amount of $4500 I got to go back to the co-pay. Thank you for your reply LO! Moral. Don't get sick! :)
My sister is diabetic and her doctor prescribed medicine in epi form. They gave her the first one, but when she went to get the prescription filled, it was over $700. She laughed and walked away.
Yes they do. My daughter was had one once that was going to be over $400. The doctor finally found something else, it was still pricey though. It was around $40, but that was more doable.
WM BARR . =ABSOLUTE TRASH 