by Gabriel Levitt, Vice President, PharmacyChecker.com and Margaret Rode, PharmacyChecker.com | Aug 27, 2010 | Drug Prices
AARP, the leading advocacy group for America’s seniors, released a new study confirming that brand name drug prices were way up – 8.3 % higher on average – in 2009. These large increases occurred during a year when the consumer price index was actually down by .4% . The report also finds that over the past five years, brand-name drug costs have increased by 41.5%, during which inflation only rose by 13%. Noteworthy in this report is that its authors, responding to pharmaceutical industry critics who contested that prior AARP reports only looked at manufacturer prices, derived the current findings by calculating the average retail prices of over 200 popular brand name drugs.
(more…)
Tagged with: AARP, Drug Prices, health, pharmacychecker.com, phrma
by Gabriel Levitt, Vice President, PharmacyChecker.com and Margaret Rode, PharmacyChecker.com | Aug 19, 2010 | Saving Money on Prescription Drugs
The price disparities between brand name and generic prescriptions can sometimes be unbelievable. For example, a common brand name drug prescribed to lower cholesterol, Zocor (100 pills, 20mg) sells at a local New York City pharmacy for $542.75. At the same quantity and dose, its generic, simvastatin, can be obtained for just $9.90 from a domestic wholesale club pharmacy – a savings of 98%!
Even more surprising are the price disparities among the same generic drugs. When it comes to prices, all generic drugs are not created equal. For example, for a three-month supply of the generic version of Fosamax (70) – called Alendronate – the price is $170.99 at one local pharmacy, while at another it’s $137.49. At Costco.com the price is $17.00!! (more…)
Tagged with: $4 Generic Programs, generic drugs
by Gabriel Levitt, Vice President, PharmacyChecker.com and Margaret Rode, PharmacyChecker.com | Aug 13, 2010 | Saving Money on Prescription Drugs
According to the New York Times, about 40 million Americans take cholesterol medications that include chemical entities called statins (the class of drug which lowers plasma cholesterol) — that’s over 10% of the U.S. population! The high cost of some statin-based drugs can deter patients from filling their doctor-prescribed cholesterol medication. Prescription non-adherence for cholesterol medication can be extremely dangerous because studies show that high-cholesterol increases the risk for heart attacks and strokes.
We’ve done some valuable homework on cholesterol drug prices to benefit American consumers struggling to afford such medications. Filling your doctors prescriptions is essential for your health (and when it comes to cholesterol drugs, for your heart) and cost should not inhibit you from doing so.
[table “13” not found /]
Tagged with: cholesterol drugs, save money
