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My doctors office gives me sample packs for free. Often 20mg pills that I have to cut in half, but there is absolutely no way I can afford it.
I feel as though the pharmacutical companies and the drug stores (Walgreens and CVS in particular) are screwing over the insurance industry big time - and those of us who can't afford health insurance are having the screws put to us as well.
One more example of the little guy getting run over by the big corporation.
Have you ever read a newspaper or watched/listened to the news in this decade? This has been an issue for years. Canada regulates the price of prescription drugs, but the US does not, hence the higher US price.
If you are trying to lower cholesterol, ask your doctor if you can use the generic of Zocor (simvastatin) instead of lipitor. That's what I did. It works for me and I only pay about $23 for 90 pills at Target.
Canada also does not regulate the manufacture or distribution of pharmaceuticals as strongly as the FDA does. This results in many more fake drugs making into the drug supply in Canada.
I would much rather ask my doc for a cheaper generic I can buy in the USA than hope I don't get some pills from a fake batch from some canadian internet pharmacy.
Most pharmas also have very good assistance programs for individuals who need their drugs but can not afford them.
flyboy said:Canada also does not regulate the manufacture or distribution of pharmaceuticals as strongly as the FDA does. This results in many more fake drugs making into the drug supply in Canada.
I would much rather ask my doc for a cheaper generic I can buy in the USA than hope I don't get some pills from a fake batch from some canadian internet pharmacy.
Most pharmas also have very good assistance programs for individuals who need their drugs but can not afford them.
When we buy other things online, we don't worry about the fake problem. Why go to drugs, it will be fake when the price is low? I am wondering this is the pharmacutical companies and the drug stores want to maintain the triple price, so they say that.
truelies said: When we buy other things online, we don't worry about the fake problem. Why go to drugs, it will be fake when the price is low? I am wondering this is the pharmacutical companies and the drug stores want to maintain the triple price, so they say that.
Again, have you been living in the woods for the last ten years? There have been plenty of cases of fake items being sold online from flash drives with lower capacities than advertised to counterfeit designer goods.
skibum43 said:truelies said: When we buy other things online, we don't worry about the fake problem. Why go to drugs, it will be fake when the price is low? I am wondering this is the pharmacutical companies and the drug stores want to maintain the triple price, so they say that.
Again, have you been living in the woods for the last ten years? There have been plenty of cases of fake items being sold online from flash drives with lower capacities than advertised to counterfeit designer goods.
I didn't live in the wood and I didn't get any fake things online. If you think online is fake place, how can the online sell increased so much?
Just like anywhere else, you can get good deals online from reputable businesses or you can get ripped off by disreputable merchants. That's why sites like resellerratings.com and this one exist.
As flyboy stated, there are cheaper generic drugs available at your local pharmacy. Simvastatin, the generic version of Zocor, is $15 for 90 pills at K-Mart, Cub Foods, and others.
chuckster said:As flyboy stated, there are cheaper generic drugs available at your local pharmacy. Simvastatin, the generic version of Zocor, is $15 for 90 pills at K-Mart, Cub Foods, and others.Generic drugs are even cheaper at Costco...for example, generic Zyrtec is about $10 for 300 pills.
One thing I've noticed is that some drugs can't be had as a generic, and those are the ones that seem to be price as high as the moon.
That's when it's best to work with your doctor and come up with an alternative that can be safely had as a generic.
Also remember that the pharmacutical companies do provide freebies... via the drug reps. My doctor and I have worked to cut prescription costs down, but for some reason he prefers Lipitor just as the OP is running into. Well if he gives it to me free via the drug reps via the pharmacutical companies - why complain. Now if the free Lipitor supply dried up, I am sure my doctor would make a change for me.
Personally I am uneasy about ordering drugs on line. When dealing with a heart condition like I am - it's not worth the risk!
thekid72 said:One thing I've noticed is that some drugs can't be had as a generic, and those are the ones that seem to be price as high as the moon.That's because the makers of those drugs have a patent that gives them a monopoly on the drug for a certain amount of time (usually 5-7 years after FDA approval). When the patent expires, anyone can make the drug. This is done to allow the drug makers to recover R&D costs - making that first pill can cost $100M to $1B or so (including drug discovery, clinical trials, regulatory compliance, and manufacturing costs), but each additional pill (manufacturing costs only) costs a few pennies to make.
If generics were allowed to compete as soon as the drug was approved, we would have to socialize pharmaceutical R&D, since no private pharma company would be able to afford it.
When I had good insurance I used Caduet (Lipitor + Norvasc). But now I use the generic for Norvasc & the generic for Zocor (Simvastatin). No difference in my health. But the generics are 10x cheaper.
jayK said:thekid72 said:One thing I've noticed is that some drugs can't be had as a generic, and those are the ones that seem to be price as high as the moon.That's because the makers of those drugs have a patent that gives them a monopoly on the drug for a certain amount of time (usually 5-7 years after FDA approval). When the patent expires, anyone can make the drug. This is done to allow the drug makers to recover R&D costs - making that first pill can cost $100M to $1B or so (including drug discovery, clinical trials, regulatory compliance, and manufacturing costs), but each additional pill (manufacturing costs only) costs a few pennies to make.
If generics were allowed to compete as soon as the drug was approved, we would have to socialize pharmaceutical R&D, since no private pharma company would be able to afford it.
100M is a pretty low number for the cost of a new drug. For each one that is approved nearly 100 fail. There is a ton of cost associated with developing drugs.
The new drugs do cost an arm and a leg, but there are usually generic alternatives. In addition to the free samples from the reps, most every drug company as a patient assistance program that will provide free or reduced cost name brand drugs to patients that are having trouble paying for the drug. These programs aren't advertised heavily, but are available. You have to call them to ask about it.
gwu1986 said:Check out Wal*mart/Sams Club. Generic Mevacor or Pravachol are $10/90 day supply. Target is only $10 for a 90 day supply of Mevacor [Lovastatin] or Pravachol [Pravastatin].
There is no reason to pay more $$ for a brand name drug when a cheap generic is just as effective.
discretion said:gwu1986 said:Check out Wal*mart/Sams Club. Generic Mevacor or Pravachol are $10/90 day supply. Target is only $10 for a 90 day supply of Mevacor [Lovastatin] or Pravachol [Pravastatin].
There is no reason to pay more $$ for a brand name drug when a cheap generic is just as effective.Aren't we saying the same thing?
gwu1986 said:discretion said:gwu1986 said:Check out Wal*mart/Sams Club. Generic Mevacor or Pravachol are $10/90 day supply. Target is only $10 for a 90 day supply of Mevacor [Lovastatin] or Pravachol [Pravastatin].
There is no reason to pay more $$ for a brand name drug when a cheap generic is just as effective.Aren't we saying the same thing? Basically, but my point was there are other choices besides Sam's/Wally World.
discretion said:gwu1986 said:Check out Wal*mart/Sams Club. Generic Mevacor or Pravachol are $10/90 day supply. Target is only $10 for a 90 day supply of Mevacor [Lovastatin] or Pravachol [Pravastatin].
There is no reason to pay more $$ for a brand name drug when a cheap generic is just as effective. The problem arises when the cheap generic is NOT as effective. I went through all the statins as they came on the market, and the one that works best for me is Lipitor.
OP - when thinking abiout ordering medicine from Canada, be aware that the US Customs may confiscate your shipment and you will be SOL the money you've paid the Canadian pharmacy.
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