Dog Community

YIKES! Pricey meds ...

Posted : 2/2/2007 8:13:15 PM

DH was just diagnosed with some weird bone thing called pagets, and his doctor gave him a prescription for risedronate (Actonel), which I think is also one of the osteoporosis meds. So - I went over to Kaiser to pick it up and they always give you this receipt that tells you how much the drug actually is, how much you pay and how much the drug benefit saved you. I read it and it says "your drug benefit saved you $1,147.80. Of course, I think that has to be a mistake. Someone hit a wrong key a couple of times - our co-pay was $10. Nope. No mistake. Further reading let me know that this drug is really $1,157.80 for 60 tablets. How in hell-o could anyone who didn't have really good drug coverage ever take this drug??? It just boggles my mind.

Joyce

sl2crmeg

Posted : 2/2/2007 8:32:47 PM

AGREED!

As a college kid, I am uninsured. The price for the name-brand birth control pill I take? Almost $50. For the generic it is almost $30. Not $1200, but to me, on my budget, it feels like it.

smilee1079

Posted : 2/2/2007 10:04:22 PM

MY bf just started doing pharm. sales. One of the drugs he sells is fosamax which is a competitor of actonel. I know 2 people I know ended up switching from Actonel to Fosamax because the Actonel was not working. I can ask my bf what he knows about that disease and if his drug may be more helpful if you find the actonel is not working. (It would benefit my bf in no way to lie since you are on the other side of the country and reflects his sales in no way

).

ottoluv

Posted : 2/2/2007 10:40:17 PM

I just checked epocrates and it's nowhere near that price, it must be a mistake

It's about $75 for 30 5mg pills, the 10mg are more. Fosamax isn't that much cheaper then actonel.

lorib

Posted : 2/2/2007 10:42:18 PM

DH had to take Aciphex for several months. It was just shy of $300.00 a MONTH--as much as our CAR payment, if you can believe it!

jenhuedepohl

Posted : 2/3/2007 9:59:01 AM

I always wonder how much all that advertising adds to the price of prescription drugs. Those prime-time commercials cost millions to produce and air. But in the end, it's the doctors who decide what to prescribe, so why are the advertising it to patients?

ottoluv

Posted : 2/3/2007 10:52:31 AM

the doctors who decide what to prescribe, so why are the advertising it to patients?

Very true, but you would be suprised how many patients come in wanting a certain med. I don't usually mind giving them what they want as long as it is equal to what I was prescribing them (like if they wanted nexium and I was going to give them prevacid). The thing that gets me annoyed is when they want something that isn't as good as what I'm going to give them and then it's like a ten minute discussion

I'm sure they spend millions on advertising.

Michelle

Posted : 2/3/2007 2:38:23 PM

It's amazing the money the drug companies throw around. I used to love it when they'd come in to the outpatient clinic where I worked because they'd throw all their little goodies (note pads, stress balls, mugs, etc.) into everybodies mailboxes, so even us psych interns got stuff as well as the psychiatry residents! Of course, our second-class status showed up when they'd bring food in for the presentations, we had to hang around and wait for leftovers [&:]!