The cost of prescriptions

[Connie]

I'm just furious today. My Mom, who is 87 years old and has been battling colon cancer for about 5 years was given a prescription today. Doctor said that from an operation 5 years ago, she suffers from a bacterial infection.

I took the prescription to CVS and guess what the cost was??? $23.00 a pill, times that by 30 and it comes to a whopping 690.00!! And, no generic. I haven't even told her yet, or filled it, because I know she would just get so upset.

I am so sick of what prescriptions cost and it shows you how alot of people won't even take the medicine that they need. What do they put in these prescriptions, gold?

OK, I'm done venting.

[loria]

that's just robbery--for ABX? it's insane!

[Eric in NJ]

Check with the manufacturer of the meds. They sometimes will reduce the cost for the elderly or those on a low fixed income.

[BuffaloGal]

Connie, Sorry to hear about your experience. You might also want to check with her insurance plan to see if there is an option to save some money getting the Rx via mail order. You could get several pills to tide her over until the Rx would come through the mail. Sometimes you can save a little that way.

[Gromit]

Talk to the DR. and see if there isn't an alternative antibiotic that she can take or see if they have any samples left by the drug rep that visits them.

Often there are alternatives. Doesn't hurt to ask.

was the antibiotic Cipro or Levaquin? If so, those are very expensive. But often Augmentin in a higher dose will do the trick and is cheaper.

[toes in the sand]

What do they put in these prescriptions, gold?

Yes, literally. $8b for research, development licensing, testing etc. to bring ANY single new drug to market. And that doesn't take into account the ones that fail along the way because they will not offer substantial advancements over existing drugs or because the relief offered is not significant enough. Then if they decide that it will offer reilef to another illness/pain it has to be re-tested for that specific target.

[Connie]

Have a call into the doctor to see if there is anything else that she can take.

Thanks for the idea of calling the drug company to see if they can offer help.

It just seems that I'm constantly dealing with her medicare or PACE about something since I'm her primary care giver.

It's very important that she take this medication and if it comes down to it, tomorrow, I will just pay for it myself.

My Mom has been very very giving in her life to our whole family and there's no way that I'll let her go without it.

I presently have 3 medications on hold just because of the cost. I could afford it, but one of the prescriptions is just rediculous.

Thanks all!

[djmom]

Connie, as someone who sold pharmaceuticals for a very long time, I can understand your frustration. Especially since the average person really has no concept of the tremendous amount of research dollars, etc... that go into drugs. It is just the way it is.

I don't know what medication you are talking about , but I am going to take an educated guess and say that it covers some very difficult to treat pathogens. Usually pathogens in the gut are very difficult to treat and can be life threatening. Since these infections are not common, the drug companies have to charge a lot to recoup their investment or to even break even.

It was probably a choice the doctor made-hospitalization vs a drug like this. He probably had very little choice.

Although it is expensive, you are correct in going forward to avoid hospitalization.

My mom once was on one of these sorts of drugs, it could even be the same one. She complained about the price and it was a hardship. But the end result was a cure and that really improved her quality of life greatly. It was probably the best money she ever spent.

And I agree with Eric that there are programs to get financial assistance or free drug for any patient that truly cannot afford it. Almost every company offers this.

If it is any consolation, these drugs are usually not big moneymakers for drug companies.

[chicagoans]

Connie, I'm so sorry and I understand. I filled a Rx for DH after his first round of chemo started. $50 for 2 pills. I asked if they had applied the insurance, and they said "yes, insurance covered $175." So... the pills would have cost $112.50 each without insurance! Thank goodness we have insurance.

This week DH went through all the bills from his cancer treatment (well, all the ones we have now. They'll probably find some more to send us and he has more tests and scans coming up. ) Comes to about $15k for what we owe, and that's with good insurance. I'm not surprised, just kind of sad about it. That would pay for one great vacay, or something! But again, I have to remind myself how grateful I need to be for the insurance. Without that... yikes.

In a case like your mom's, it's so tough because I'm sure she'd worry about the cost and consider skipping the Rx due to the expense.

I understand that research costs, etc., drive up the cost of medical drugs and treatments. But hey, would it be too much to ask that the medical community treat us like the paying customers we are?!? Seriously, if I scheduled a meeting with a client and then made them sit and wait 2 or 3 hours for me… do you think they’d still be my client? We burned so much time this summer just sitting and waiting for scheduled appointments. It’s like the appointment time really means nothing at all to them. OK, sorry, guess I was venting there…

I’m glad that your mom has a great daughter to take care of her. Good luck and I hope you find some ways to help lower the Rx cost.

[waterguy]

I cut the waits out I started making bills for them stating that if I had to wait more then 1?2 hour they owed me so much per hour. This was after I had to cancel a appointment at the last minute because of work and they wanted to charge me for lost time so if their time is so important mine is to. They kind of were taken back at first but since then have not had a problem with them

[LysaC]

waterguy- you are awesome.

[djmom]

Personally, I don't mind waiting if I also get time when I am in there.

So, if it is a long wait and I am rushed through, I am mad-extremely mad.

But if it is a long wait and the doctor listens to me and treats me like a person, then I am relatively ok with it.

It would be nice to have things properly scheduled, but given that many times a doctor doesn't know what the problem will be and how the visit will unfold-well I understand that.

And all it takes is one really sick patient to throw off a day for a doctor. And they are working in sick people all the time so they can't control when someone has a big problem that needs to be dealt with right then.

I guess I am a little more sympathetic having spent a lot of time watching the doctors in action. Of course some of them are incompetent jerks, but most of them actually work pretty hard and are under lots of pressure.

But I get the gripes.

[pipanale]

**This is not a joke**

Is your mother in the dreaded donut hole? Having worked for a major Rx benefits company for a while, and the last 2 years of those on Medicare-related crap, I'm a little surprised by that number.

Talk to the benefits provider too and see if they can offer a solution. someone mentioned mail-order. It tends to save a lot for certain drugs.

[Coden]

Hi Connie - I'm sorry you all are going through this, medication cost is something the elderly should not have to worry about.

I have a question...did one of the Big Box pharmacies, like Wal-Greens or CVS quote the price to you? The reason I ask is that recently my husband was told by one of the Big Box pharmacies that one of his medications was going to be over $400. We about had a stroke. Anyway, we found the exact medication at our Home Town Pharmacy who told us his cost was only $30, so our cost would be $45...Big Difference!!

Is it because of a Much lower overhead, different contracts with the Insurance Co, or what? I don't know, I do know we no longer shop at the Big Box pharmacies. This may not be your case, but just thought I would share what happened to us.

I hope all works out for your mom and I wish her well. And you for being such a good daughter! [/i]