Discussion » Statements » Rosie's Corner » US drug companies GOUGE Americans. Highway robbery. Loan Shark interest rates are bargains compared to them. Why do they get away with it?
RosieG

US drug companies GOUGE Americans. Highway robbery. Loan Shark interest rates are bargains compared to them. Why do they get away with it?

OBVIOUSLY BECAUSE THEY CAN

A Senator spoke of the experience of one her constituents. The lady in question has a daughter with TYPE 1 Diabetes. The lady in question also travels a lot. Here is what she paid for the exact same thing in 3 different countries.

Greece
$12

Canada
$14

US
$140

The US prides itself on Capitalism which is based only on charging whatever you can for whatever folks need. The higherer the betterer for the bottom line. This is especially egregious in pharmaceuticals. Greedy SOB's can't make enough profit charging responsible prices. They gotta go sky high price-wise. WHY? Because they can. Why can they? Because our government supports sky high gouging and sky high prices which is why they gutted the Consumer Protection Agency. They are all in on it. Nice and cozy. A pox on all their houses!  :(

Posted - July 27, 2018
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Responses


  • 10799
    It's a joke!  The US let's these drug companies run the country.  Do you really think the government is going to step in and do something other than talk?  (If you do then let me tell you about this bridge I own and am willing to part with for a song.)  Most politicians are in drug companies back pockets.  Oh, they may claim its an outrage and something should be done to stop it, but that would mean losing some of those ... lets just call them what they REALLY are - bribes/kickbacks ... they rake in.  Well, they sure aren't going to do that now are they?  So the issue gets pushed to the "back burner" in hopes that it will be forgotten. In the meantime, people die because they cant afford a necessary drug.  People get sicker because they're forced to make a 10 day supply of a drug last 6 months (cutting the pill in pieces, not talking it as often as prescribed, etc.).  People are forced to choose between eating or taking a cancer drug that will minimize their horrible pain.

    How can a drug company justify charging $2500 for a drug that only costs them $10 to make? Whoops... sorry, but the CEO needs another jet airplane so that he can commute from his house in the Bahamas to his other house in Beverly Park, therefore that price just increased to $5,000.. and only for a 10 day supply. Perish the thought he uses his $2.3 billion paycheck or his annual $8.7 billion bonus.  How gauche!  (I'm just  being facetious ... or am I?)
    Oh, they claim that drug prices are high because it costs a lot of money to develop a drug, to get FDA approval for it, to advertise it, and to distribute it.  Hey,drug companies - cut out the TV ads (no one watches then anyhow)!  Stop giving out bribes... (ahem) .. I mean kickbacks ... (ahem) I mean "incentives" to politicians!  Stop paying your corporate bigwigs salaries that equate to $870,236/hr - 24/7!   Stop giving them  more money in bonuses and perks than all the people in an average American town earn in a lifetime - combined!  THEN perhaps it  won't cost so much to make a little pill.

    I know, I know, I'm just dreaming.  There's little I can do but sit back and let these pirates fleece me as they do the entire country.
      July 27, 2018 3:45 PM MDT
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  • 113301
     When I heard that Shuhak I could NOT believe it! But on the other hand wasn't there some guy who took over some pharma company and upped the price of an essential med to something like $750 a pill? I personally know some of what that's like. In 2008 I had cancer and after I'd used up the first level of co-pay I had to pay full price for the drugs required until I had satisfied that tier. Then it went back to the co-pay. I went to the pharmacy one day for the prescription and was told it would be $2000 or something like that. I almost had a heart attack on the spot. It seems I had reached that stage where $4500 had to be paid by me to get to the next stage! For six months I had 3-day sessions of chemo every 3 weeks. Each session required the expensive pills (27 of them as I recall). I was getting heavy doses of chemo..2 kinds...and those pills were required to offset the damage to my body and save my bladder or something. So I paid it. But I know without Medicare and insurance I would have died. After every 3-day session the following five days I had to go the hospital to get a Nupogen shot. Each shot would have cost me $1000 but I paid nothing. I paid nothing for the chemo itself. Getting seriously ill is no picnic and surviving it isn't cheap. Here's the thing I worry about. TGITWH wants to eliminate the pre-existing condition insurance coverage so that insurance companies don't have to cover them. What if the cancer comes back? How do I survive? SIGH. There are lots of shady ways to make money but making it off of people lives has got to be among the lowest.  Is there a solution? Yes. Kick TGITWH OUT and all his fellow travelers with him. Get Dems back in charge so we can get  our lives back. Thank you for your reply and Happy Saturday! :)
      July 28, 2018 2:11 AM MDT
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  • 10799
    My dad went through that same delima too.  Unfortunately, there was no way anyone in our family could chip in to help my parents pay the outrageous costs.  Miraculously, a local thrift store that gives its proceeds to cancer patients stepped in and paid for all the medication - 100%.  Sadly, my dad passed shortly thereafter.


      July 28, 2018 9:38 AM MDT
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  • 113301
    Condolences m'dear. I was given a 14% chance of surviving 5 years. My last chemo was October 3, 2008 but who remembers? So far so good. The longer you survive less the chance of recurrence. But there is NO GUARNTEE it won't come back in the same form or elsewise. I'm old enough that I'll probably be dead of old age before that happens but who knows?  I have yearly appointments with my oncologist and the next one is slated for August 27. I hope if it ever comes   ack DEMS are in charge and not republicans because I know it will cost me my life. Of that I have no doubt. SIGH. Thank you for your reply. Sorry your dad wasn't as lucky as I was. They found mine at Stage 3. Stage  4 is the worst stage so I guess that helped as did being VERY HEALTHY so they gave me the most intensive STRONG chemo they could and my body tolerated it because I had no other medical problems and was on no other medication. If I had heart problems or others conditions the protocol would have had to have been different and I probably would not be here.:(
      July 29, 2018 5:27 AM MDT
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