by PharmacyChecker.com | Jul 29, 2011 | Drug Prices, Online Pharmacies
PharmacyChecker.com was mentioned this week in a U.S. News and World Report article entitled How to Cut Your Drug Costs. Listed among other effective ways to save money on prescription drugs, the article notes that PharmacyChecker “compares prices of mail-order pharmacies, and can help you find the lowest posted prices.”
How to Cut Your Drug Costs reminds readers that buying drugs from Canada – and elsewhere overseas – is technically illegal, but it quotes AARP: “Over the past decade millions of Americans have ignored U.S. law to seek cheaper prices from Canada, most often by mail order.” Notably, AARP found Canadian prices for Lipitor to be about a third less than they are here in the U.S. The fact that the FDA has (to our knowledge) never prosecuted an individual for importing a three-month supply of personal, non-controlled drugs with a valid prescription, means that they too understand the importance of access to safe and affordable medication. (more…)
Tagged with: AARP, brand name drugs, Canada, chain stores, consumer guide, Costco, CVS, drug costs, drugs from canada, generics, Kroger, mail-order pharmacies, Medicare, medicare plan finder, patents, personal drug importation, prescription drugs, Target, U.S. News and World Report, Wal-Mart
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Jul 7, 2011 | Advocacy, Drug Prices, Online Pharmacies
Over the past few years we’ve found that, despite many positive ratings from actual consumers, the most reputable and safe international online pharmacies are unfairly given low ratings on WOT. As an online community of people who are supposed to rate websites on their trustworthiness, this is clearly problematic. Last week we posted an article about online pharmacies as a forum discussion on WOT – MyWot.com – to share our analysis of why the best international online pharmacies are wrongly receiving poor reputations. It should be recognized that many dangerous online pharmacies, foreign and domestic, are appropriately rated poorly on WOT, but, as described below, that doesn’t excuse rating good websites as bad.
In summary, a handful of WOT’s “Platinum” raters (those that have provided more than 10,000 ratings) mostly look to the online pharmacy evaluations of LegitScript.com and the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, both aligned with the interests of big pharmaceutical companies. By doing so, WOT users are serving the commercial interests of the pharmaceutical and U.S. pharmacy industries by giving a low rating to trustworthy and safe online pharmacies. This is wrong and hurts consumers.
Because WOT ratings are used to determine exposure on other sites, unwarranted low ratings of safe and affordable non-U.S. online pharmacies, which are actually trustworthy, can harm American consumers who can’t afford drug prices. Sadly, these low ratings may cause them to forgo needed medication by wrongly believing an affordable online pharmacy is dangerous and untrustworthy when in fact it is very safe and trustworthy.
Since we posted the article as a forum there has been mostly positive feedback (except about the length of the forum) and a frank discussion about online pharmacies, access to medication and Web of Trust.
Tagged with: affordable drugs, LegitScript, mywot.com, National Boards of Pharmacy, Online Pharmacies, platinum rater, ratings, U.S. pharmacy industry, Web of Trust, WOT
by Gabriel Levitt, Vice President, PharmacyChecker.com and Margaret Rode, PharmacyChecker.com | Jun 20, 2011 | Drug Importation, Drug Prices
CNN.com recently aired a video entitled Phony meds flooding U.S, which addressed a variety of dangers related to buying prescription drugs in Mexico, on the streets of Los Angeles, from unauthorized sources and from certain online pharmacies. While warning consumers about the dangers of bad medicine and fraudulent practices is good, the CNN piece, unfortunately, may confuse consumers about what the real threats are. With 120 million American consumers struggling to afford their medication, many are understandably looking for alternatives to the prohibitive costs of brand name drugs in the U.S. We believe our Consumer Guide, which does not recommend Mexican pharmacies, gives the best information on how to save money safely on your prescriptions, a summary of which you can find here.
Whether traveling to Mexico or ordering from international online pharmacies, Americans deserve to be properly informed and this CNN piece highlights how the message to consumers is often misleading, unclear and inaccurate.
The segment begins at a border crossing between Tijuana and southern California. CNN reports, “Everyday Americans flock across the border to buy deeply discounted prescription drugs”. Several Americans interviewed in the piece say they can get cheaper medications at Mexican pharmacies, at 50% off or more, and that it works for them. (more…)
Tagged with: affordable, Canadian pharmacies, chain pharmacies, CNN, consumer guide, Costco, counterfeit, drug affordability, Internet pharmacies, LA County Department of Public Health, Mexican pharmacies, NABP, phony meds, prescription, U.S. State Department, verified pharmacies, VIPPS
by PharmacyChecker.com | Jun 7, 2011 | Drug Prices
In March of this year the FDA took the unusual step of allowing an “unapproved” compounded drug to remain on the market to explicitly make sure Americans could afford that product. That drug is hydroxyprogesterone caproate, branded by K-V Pharmaceuticals as Makena, the first FDA-approved drug to prevent the risk of preterm birth in certain women. Will more such government interventions continue in support of drug affordability?
According to the Wall Street Journal Blog,“Typically, whenever a drug is approved, pharmacy compounding isn’t allowed and the FDA acts to remove any unapproved drugs that might on be the U.S. market.” However, the FDA is allowing the compound to remain solely because of the outrageous cost for the brand-name product; Makena is priced at $1,500 per dose! Before Makena was approved, the same drug without the K-V branding and FDA stamp of approval cost between $10 – 20 per dose.
To the best of our knowledge, the FDA’s role does not include controlling prices to help Americans have access to the medication they need. However, that is precisely what the FDA did in the case of Makena. In our opinion, that’s also what the FDA does by not enforcing certain personal drug importation laws that, if enforced, would prevent Americans from affording needed medication. Currently, under its personal drug importation policy, the FDA has stated it does not take enforcement action against individuals who import non-controlled medicines, which are generally (and ironically) viewed as not FDA-approved even if they’re the exact same drug sold here, often due to labelling or pill color and shape differences between otherwise identical products. (more…)
Tagged with: Americans, Avanair Pharmaceuticals, Colcrys, Compound drugs, Drug Importation, FDA, FDA-approved, hydroxyprogesterone caproate, K-V Pharmaceuticals, lawmakers, Makena, non-controlled medicines, Not FDA-approved, Nuedexta, personal drug importation, Pharmaceutical Prices, policy, U.S. Government, URL Pharma, Wall Street Journal
by PharmacyChecker.com | May 24, 2011 | Drug Prices, Saving Money on Prescription Drugs
Generic prescriptions are on the rise, as doctors are prescribing them, and pharmacies are filling them, now more than ever. We recently wrote that the percentage of generic scripts being dispensed rose to 78% last year. But the popularity for generics – attributed to the significantly lower price tag compared to brand name drugs – is expected to take on a whole new meaning, as the patents for some blockbuster brand name drugs expire this year; this is also known as the “Patent Cliff”.
The biggest prize, Pfizer’s Lipitor (for Cholesterol), the number one selling drug in the U.S., goes generic later this year (November 2011); and Plavix (a blood thinner) and Actos (for Diabetes) will follow (May 2012 and August 2012, respectively). As patents run out, these and other popular prescription drugs will be far more affordable in the U.S., since generic drug prices tend to be lower here than in other countries. (more…)
Tagged with: Actos, blood thinner, brand name drugs, Canada, Celebrex, Cholesterol, consumer guide, Costco.com, diabetes, generic prescriptions, Lipitor, Patent Cliff, Pfizer, Plavix, Seroquel, Simvastatin, U.S. pharmacies, United States, Zocor
by PharmacyChecker.com | May 12, 2011 | Drug Prices
Last summer we reported on the prohibitive costs of AIDS and H.I.V. drugs in America. Due to high drug prices, plus overcrowded and inefficient AIDS Drug Assistance Programs, individuals suffering from these diseases live in fear, not knowing if they will get the meds they need. Sadly, the problem has gotten worse.
A recent discussion on an AIDS/H.I.V. community web forum is what caught our attention. In that forum’s thread entitled “Links to Stop White House from Blocking Online Pharmacies”, outspoken members have voiced outrage over recent price hikes of critical HIV medications.
As reported by the AIDS and H.I.V. advocacy website and monthly magazine POZ.com, Gilead Sciences, a major manufacturer of AIDS and H.I.V. prescription drugs, has increased prices for its top HIV medications. “Atripla increased by 5.1 percent, and Truvada and Emtriva increased by 7.9 percent.” Comparing prices for these drugs at a local New York bricks and mortar pharmacy to licensed and verified foreign pharmacies, one finds substantial price discrepancies:
Drug Prices for a Three-Month Supply
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(more…)
Tagged with: AIDS, AIDS Health Foundation, America, Atripla, Change.org, community web forum, Drug Prices, Emtriva, Florida, Gilead Sciences, Governor Rick Scott, H.I.V., Online Pharmacies, petition, Truvada, United States, White House
