Huge price difference on prescription drug

I will use Lipitor, so I just searched the price online as a fat walleter :

Both the brand product:

http://www.cheapodrugs.com/groups/12656-lipitor-10-mg-equivalent...

a Canada web, only charge $80 for 90 tabs

But CVS is selling it on $251 for same tabs.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Have your Doctor change from Lipitor to Zocor they are very similar and then get the generic version of Zocor which is simvastatin get a price match from Costco (you do not have to be a member) or get it filled from Costco same you DO NOT have to be a member and it will be under $10.00 if you fill it for a larger amount like 90 pills it brings the cost even lower. Hope this makes it to you.

The entire "Canada is filled with fake drugs" meme is bullhocky meant to scare you into buying more expensive drugs in the US. The Canadian health care system negotiates with drug companies so as to get the best price. The manufacturers of branded drugs like Lipitor sell it to Canada from the same plants that make the US drugs. Importing them back down doesn't make the drugs fake all of a sudden.

If you think about it, there's less motivation to sell fake drugs in Canada because the drug prices there are cheaper and everyone has health insurance. In the US, our drugs are more expensive and many cannot afford health care. If anything, there's more incentive to sell fake drugs here than there.

I would be wary of this place.

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