When you lose count of how many folks have the same suspicion about a prescription medication, action is compulsory. Joe and Teresa Graedon, founders of The People’s Pharmacy, not only have an admirable track record of telling health consumers how it is, but also listening to those in their readership. Years ago, they took on the Food and Drug Administration in regards to Budeprion XL distributed by Teva Pharmaceuticals, the supposed generic equivalent to the popular antidepressant, Wellbutrin XL. Many readers complained that it just wasn’t cutting it compared to the brand name version. In fact, many people reported that when they were switched to the Teva generic Wellbutrin XL, their depression returned.
Increasingly frustrated with the state of drug costs in the U.S., millions
of Americans have found refuge in ordering necessary prescription medications
online from Canadian or other international pharmacies for roughly a tenth the cost
of those at their local Walgreens, CVS, or other pharmacy.
For many years, consumers have been relieved to find the international savings
option after a simple search on Google or Bing. Among top search results for the
words “online pharmacies,” there was a list of the
safest international online pharmacies that sell to consumers in the U.S. and
also facts about the benefits
and risks of online pharmacies, including obtaining lower cost medication
from licensed pharmacies abroad. That is, until recently.
Unfortunately, we know that Google and Bing are working with Big
Pharma funded groups and programs. We believe this has led to censorship of
affordable medication access on the Internet.
I’m proud to share that PharmacyChecker has published a white paper that
examines prices and availability of newly approved generic drugs. Our report,
based on 40 generic medications that were approved from 2017-2018, clearly
shows that generic drug approvals often don’t lead to greater affordability or
even access here in the U.S. We were inspired to examine pricing in addition to
availability after seeing availability research conducted by Kaiser Health News (KHN).
The KHN article concluded that the lack to generic availability in the U.S. “means
thousands or even millions of patients have no option beyond buying branded
drugs that can cost thousands of dollars per month.” As an option for those who
cannot afford that, PharmacyChecker found that 25% of the generic medications
were available online, internationally through pharmacies that are accredited
in the PharmacyChecker Verification Program.
Out of 40 generic medications that
were approved from 2017 to 2018, PharmacyChecker research found the following:
Welcome to PharmacyChecker Blog, brought to you by PharmacyChecker.com:
A source for news and analysis about drug prices and safety, online pharmacies and personal drug importation, published on behalf of American consumers.
