GRR! Prescription Drug Rant

[Dookus]

OMG... I am so mad.

My 70-something year old neighbor just called me and asked if I would go to the drug store for him to fill a new prescription. He's wheel-chair bound. A retired career military guy. Really nice.

Of course, I go. He gives me $20 to cover the co-pay.

I go to the store drop it off, wander around, then go back to pick it up. The clerk tells me "That'll be One fifty-four". I make a joke about what good insurance he has. She says "no, that's One Hundred and Fifty Four dollars." And that is WITH his insurance!!!!

I'm floored. I look at the prescription - it's a fucking anti-biotic (Cipro). He's having surgery next week that MAY let him walk again, and evidently needs to be on it for a few days before the surgery. No choice.

So I pay for it, and he very kindly pays me back when I get home.

But what kind of fucking country is it when an old, retired vet has to pay $154 for a fucking antibiotic so he can fucking MAYBE get out of his fucking wheelchair?!?!??!

/rant

[Deja Q]

1. It's called "Corporate America"

That's how it works.

Can you blame me for being a socialist who has had it with how capitalism has been abused and misused and perverted by the scumbags of the earth?

[Raven]

2. Can't blame you at all but

stay with us so we can get a democrat back in the White House!

[Deja Q]

3. No problem there!

Anything to get the bushit out.

My goofy dreams of how humanity should exist will never become reality. Democrats are just the next best thing, especially when they flex their muscles...

And a fair compromise would be if somebody would reform the system so the greedy and the wealthy don't get power and control they don't deserve. O'Really thinks it's unfair but "that's the way it is". It is wrong and we, the people, need to stand up to it and enact laws which give ALL AMERICANS a say. This oligarchy shit is just wrong and outright unconstitutional so why aren't Americans pissed? Well, they're too busy wondering who Evan Marriott will pick to be his floozie... :eyes:

My problem is that I tend to get extremist at times. Which is fair given how extreme the fascist anti-american bastards are.

Worst of all, America's freedoms are utterly NON-EXISTANT if corporate america devises ways of manipulation and control (and I'm not just talking about $$ and prices). That is not freedom. Your employer prefers to treat you like a bunch of criminals, "guilty until proven innocent"? That's "commie russia", not america. So why is this philosophy, amongst a thousand million others, permitted?

America is a hypocrisy.

</soapbox>

[Rabrrrrrr]

4. Its part of the republican "we're patriots who support our troops

and appreciate the sacrifices of those who fought for the country" bullshit.

Veteran healthcare (or at least, those who saw combat) should be free, in perpetuity, in all cases, in my opinion.

[whathappened]

5. this is chump change to them they think

dam these people all to hell , doc put me on lipoter anyways i go get it and it is 106 bucks for 30 days supply , took it for 2 months and got pissed and quit taking it , went to doc and asked them to check my blood to see if i was better , and they said only if i pay for the test , medicare will only pay once a year , ouch i said , shit could die in a year , o well the nurse said you just keep taking it for a year and then you get checked , told doc i can't afford to take it any more and he said it would be fine , just keep taking baby asperin each day , this is b.s. we need help in this ountry with drug coverage and no body seems to notice , we all don't have insurance

[amazona]

26. yeah, with lipitor it's better if you don't ever start taking it

I hate to say it but it's true. There is a rebound effect when you go off it. So if you aren't sure of being able to afford to stay on it forever, it is unwise to start with it. Scary.

My friend got his cholesterol down really, really low with the combination of baby aspirin, raw garlic, and a glass of red wine every day. Oh, and fish oil every day too. But I'm not sure his regime would work for everyone.

[BlueJazz]

6. I always love when politicians start.....

.....talking about "Drug cost Reform".
They usually mean something like a 15% drop in price, like as if that's
going to change a damn thing.

I read last month that Lilly was going to lower the price of some drug from 240.00 to 207.00 to "help people afford life-saving medicine"
Geez...I'd like take their 207.00 bottle and stick it up their ass!

[rasputin1952]

7. One of the dirty little secrets...

that the drug companies don't want you to know; most of the research in new medications is underwritten by the government. All of that stuff about having to recoup costs that were involved in finding and getting new meds on the market, is pure trash.

I take Vioxx for arthritis in my neck, something that may well paralyze me in the future. $81 for 30 pills, 1 25mg tablet a day. Sometimes I just can't afford it, and I can tell when I don't take the stuff.

Now I am not in a life threatening position at this point; but I feel that ANYONE who is, and has difficulty in paying for meds, should get them. So if person "A" can't afford a med that isn't covered, person "A" dies. Person "B" survives, because of a med that he/she can afford. To me, there is no difference between person "A" & person "B"; both are living beings. Mothers, fathers, sons and daughters; to me they are all the same, they are human beings; what seperaters them is the weight of their wallets. There is special place in hell for those that allow individuals to die, simply because they can't afford a med. How pathetic we have become.

[blondeatlast]

10. Another dirty little secret about the pharm cos.:

They are increasingly focusing research dollars into how to improve the effectiveness of POPULAR drugs, rather than new ones or improvements in lifesaving drugs.

For instance, they spent a small fortune to make most allergy meds so they can be taken once or twice a day, but do they spend that kind of dinero to make a more effective AIDS or diabetes drug?

Hell, no.

[NashVegas]

13. Don't Forget Marketing Costs

Someone has to pay for all those spiffy Happy Fun Ball commercials: us.

[rasputin1952]

22. Those commercials on TV, and the ads in magazines...

are driving the physicians nuts, BTW.

Patients are showing up to literally beg for Rx's of some of these meds, most of which will NOT alleviate certain problems, simply because they don't pertain to the condition the the patient comes in for. Another situation, is that some of these meds can become toxic when mixed with other meds. If a patient is seeing more than one phyisician or uses more than one pharmacy, complications can arise that could prove to be deadly.

Pharmacists are an extremey important link in the treatment of patients. They are there to make sure the proper dosages are set, and they need to have info about all of the other medications that a patient is taking. The training these people go through is brutal, but it saves lives, they can catch contraindications in a heartbeat; and that save lives.

[electricmonk]

28. A pharmacist caught a mistake on my sisters prescription

She had surgery a couple months ago and I dropped off the pain-killer prescription for her at her regular pharmacy and the pharmacist said "isn't she allergic to Vicodin(sp)" "yeah I think she said something about that" "well this is basically the same, let me call the doctor". After about 20 minutes she got ahold of the doctor who switched it to something else. If I had gone to another drug store or the pharmacist wasn't paying attention it could have been really bad. Another benefit the original script was about $30 after co-pay the replacement was $5. I think the doctor wrote whatever was the latest wonder pain-killer the salesman pushed on him without reading the detailed information.

[blondeatlast]

29. All my meds come from the same pharmacy. They have cought problems on

more than one occasion.

[catzies]

27. Warning: Do Not Taunt the Happy Fun Ball.

Oh, and don't forget they also get tax rebates. So it goes like this:

Drug research is done with government grants/subsidies
They sell it at obscene margins
The spending of marketing millions is an "operational loss"
Then they get a tax refund for losing money
Lather, rinse, repeat

[rasputin1952]

23. I concur wholeheartedly...

like any other business, they are looking for dollars.

Lives mean little to them, if they are not directly affected.

There are very few Jonas Salk types out there anymore. Polio was conquered, (or at least vastly supressed), because of nothing more than medical ethics. Other examples are diptheria, pertussis, rabies, and a host of other diseases. It was ethical to fight these diseases.

Diabetes is a particualarly nasty condition. Aids, the resurgence of TB; and my favorite, Cancer. If someone came up with a formula that would cure cancer, funding would dry up. Perhaps there are already meds out there that would combat this disease and all of its variations, but if it is ;icensed, billions of dollarts dry up, why put it on the market, if all you are worried about is getting more funding?

About 15 years ago, I was working in a hospital, and was in the medical library and read an article on how, in two cases, thalidomide, seemed to have reversed the course of leukemia patients.
For those not knowing about thalidomide, it is an anti-anziety agent that was prescribed to several pregnant women, who then had seriously deformed children. It was immediately pulled off the market, (for good reason). But, thalidomide is stilla vailable in some countries, and in a last ditch effort, a physician and pharmacist decided to use the cell/genetic altering properties in trying to treat these two patients. Something happened, and the AMA was goint ot do some testing, in any case, and for whatever reason, the leukemia in both patients went into remission.

My point is, SOMETHING happened, and saved these peoples lives; and we should look at ANY way to save lives we can. If there is something out there that works....find it and make lives longer and better.

[blondeatlast]

30. I've often thought the pharm co.s are part of the organized

opposition to stem-cell research for that very reason.

Interesting, too, that pancreas transplants have cured diabetes in several cases, and insurance companies are willing to pay (it cuts their outlays, especially when kidney transplants are required).

But you see very little mention of this from the big diabetes foundations, the ADA and the JDF. You will see, however, the logos for Bayer and Schering-Plough, anomng others.

Hmmmmmmm . . .

[blondeatlast]

8. I know just how you feel. Shame on us for not taking care of our own.

Health care in this country is pathetic. I have a chronic, debilitating disease as well as heart problems (at 43!) and if I had no health insurance I would be dead. Pure and simple.

As it is, hubby and I had to declare bankruptcy to pay medical bills when his employer absconded with the premiums in his own hot little pocket. I'm just lucky the heart surgery occurred BEFORE the doc and hospital found out--otherwise, well, you know the rest.

[Dookus]

11. Hey blonde!

I had two coronary stents put in last year, at age 41!

Gawd, I'm glad you got your stuff fixed when you could.

[blondeatlast]

12. I got--6, count 'em, 6. Doing great though, much improvement in

the last couple of years.

Whew!

There is one good thing about them: Benedryl and Valium! WOO-Hooooo (as I drift up to the ceiling . . .)

[blondeatlast]

9. BTW, Dookus, what a really great thing to do for the guy!

:toast:

[rustydog]

14. I'd like to see EVERY American get free healthcare (prescriptions too)

That isn't gooing to happen in my kids lifetime.
BUT...Goddamn it, our military, active and retired, should not have to want for medical care and they should not have to pull ONE FUCKING DOLLAR out of their wallet to get a prescription filled!

These people make America America. Start "supporting" them with action, Bush, not words.

[Dookus]

15. Agreed....

I felt like such a heel telling him how much it cost.

[Lindsey]

16. THIS IS AN OUTRAGE

and it's one of the main reasons why I've become and activist. We, as human beings, have a right to healthcare and necessary medication. FOR GODS SAKE PEOPLE....WE MUST PUT A STOP TO THIS.

[FloridaJudy]

17. No kidding!

Drug companies make me want to hurl.

I work with a low-income population, so I'm very careful to prescribe the least expensive medication that will do the trick. So when I got pink-eye, I convinced my doctor to prescribe a really old drug: one that's been around since the Eisenhower Administration, but still works just fine. I took the Rx to the closest pharmacy - one I didn't have my insurance card registered with - and offered to pay the full price. My jaw dropped when they said it would be $45.

This stuff costs *pennies* to manufacture; my clinic buys it for less than five dollars. I know that drug companies and pharmacists have to make a living, but this kind of mark-up is ridiculous!

Why we Americans put up with it is beyond me.

[grasswire]

18. 30 tabs of 750 mg. Cipro runs about $160

So I wonder just how much your neighbor's insurance coverage is for prescriptions. Maybe the drugstore made a mistake. Or maybe his coverage is only for generics, in which case the doctor could have authorized the generic to save $$.

[Dookus]

19. TWO

different women called the insurance company, checked online, and did everything to make sure that was the best price. I asked about a generic, but she said the generic was the same price. Hard to fathom....

[Swede]

20. Is $87,000,000,000.00 too much to ask

for out poor military/industrial/politacal complex?

[Dogmudgeon]

21. Counting my blessings

I have some nagging health problems that require me to pay for meds out-of-pocket (I haven't had a drug plan in five years). My monthly cost for meds is around $150.

I'm a computer programmer, which means that $150 is about what I make in a good month.

Compared to some of the stories I've seen here, I'm pretty well off. The only consolation I have is that Marx himself couldn't have come up with a better, more persuasive argument for Socialism.

--bkl
Socialism for people and not corporations, that is.

[Nikia]

24. Antibiotics are expensive

I was treated with a month's supply of a broad spectrum antibiotic for a chronic sinus infection. I was astonished to find that I had to pay over $100 for it with my insurance. The cost of the drug was listed as being over $400. I vomitted the first few days of taking it as well as diarrhea. The loose stools continued to afflict me for the whole month, but I did not call my doctor. If I had paid $10 or even $20 for it, I might have. I didn't want to have spent over $100 for nothing, though, and probably after to get another high cost drug.

[amazona]

25. this stinks

I am just doing without medicine these days. I could not afford to pay that for an antibiotic. I'm afraid the last time I was prescribed an antibiotic, I just ate some raw garlic after I learned the price. I know, dangerous. But if you don't have it, you don't have it.