by Tod Cooperman, M.D., CEO, PharmacyChecker.com | Jan 14, 2016 | Drug Prices, New Drugs, Online Pharmacies
In the article “I.P.F., Not Aging, Could Be Causing Breathlessness” in the New York Times this week, columnist Jane Brody explains that the drug Esbriet (pirfenidone) can “slow the loss of lung function and significantly reduce deaths” from an incurable lung disease called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or I.P.F.
The article notes that Esbriet was approved in the U.S. in 2014 and now 14,000 people have begun treatment, which costs $94,000 per year. The article also notes that the drug has been available for several years in other parts of the world (including Japan, India, Europe and Canada).
What the article does not mention is that this incredible drug can be purchased at just a fraction of the cost through many online pharmacies which dispense it from licensed pharmacies outside the U.S – where the cost is only about $2,000 per year, rather than $94,000 per year.
The standard dose of Esbriet is 801 mg per day – 3 capsules, each containing 267 mg of pirfenidone, according to the NIH website DailyMed. Outside the U.S., pirfenidone is sold as 200 mg capsules (so 4 capsules would provide a similar dose – 800 mg). In the U.S., the price of each 267 mg capsule (without any discount) comes out to about $85, while a 200 mg capsule from outside the U.S. costs about $1.50 (prices listed at http://www.pharmacychecker.com/generic/price-comparison/pirfenidone/200+mg/)
Why must Americans (and our government programs) pay 40 to 50 times more than to get this drug in the U.S. than from elsewhere?
Tagged with: Drug Prices, Esbriet, Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, international pharmacies, life-saving drugs, Online Pharmacies, Pirfenidone
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Jan 8, 2016 | Controlled Drugs, Drug Prices, Drug Safety, Generic drugs, Local Pharmacies, Online Pharmacies
I like showing Americans who are searching online for affordable medication, often from foreign pharmacies, that their mom and pop pharmacy on Main Street U.S.A. can actually offer a better deal. It’s actually pretty common. The generic version of Valium, diazepam, which treats anxiety, is a perfect example. Bottom line: no need to buy online or from Canada to save money.
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Tagged with: diazepam, Drug Prices, local pharmacies, Online Pharmacies, Valium
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Dec 31, 2015 | Drug Importation, Drug Prices, Online Pharmacies, Skipping medications
As we move out of 2015 and into 2016 with a strong wave of hostility rising throughout the country about high drug prices, what I’m about to report may seem incongruous. Fewer Americans seem to be buying lower cost medications from other countries. For the past few years, largely based on data from the CDC in 2013, I’ve published the number five million as the approximate number of Americans who, due to high drug prices, import medication annually for personal use. But a newer CDC report published in 2015 (that I recently came across) puts that number closer to four million, a 20% decrease.
If drug prices are going up, and Americans are fed up with prescription costs, wouldn’t you expect more people to be buying lower cost medications from outside the country? With fewer Americans buying medication internationally, potentially one million, how many of them are simply not taking prescribed medication? Are our most trusted authorities scaring Americans away from obtaining lower cost medications from other countries, or has affordable access improved over the past few years?
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Tagged with: Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies, CDC, Center for Safe Internet Pharmacies, Drug Importation, Drug Prices, FDA, National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, Online Pharmacies, Partnership for Safe Medicines, Patent Cliff, Seroquel, United States
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Dec 11, 2015 | Controlled Drugs, Drug Prices, Online Pharmacies
Sleeping Woman by Gyula Derkovits [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
A friend of mine, let’s call her Bertha, who is on Medicare Part D, is prescribed and takes Zolpidem. For most of the year, she only had to make a co-payment of about $3 at her local pharmacy. Then, a couple of months ago, the same pharmacy told Bertha that the price jumped to $46 for a one-month supply because her Part D plan had annual quantity restrictions for that medication.
So Bertha went to PharmacyChecker.com, typed in Zolpidem, then clicked 5mg, and read the following:
Why not? Because Ambien (Zolpidem) is a controlled medication, meaning one subject to abuse, and we don’t allow online pharmacies that sell controlled medication internationally in our Verification Program. Rogue online pharmacies, domestic or foreign, might offer to sell you this medication without a prescription but don’t buy it: you’re risking your health by doing so. Even if they sell you the real thing, we strongly recommend not using controlled drugs without a prescription on or offline. The good news for Americans is that, if they shop around, the generic version of Ambien can be very affordable at the corner pharmacy. Prescription discount coupons often make them even more affordable. A new feature on PharmacyChecker.com (that is still being tested so be patient) can help…and so our story continues.
Under the notification “Online pharmacies in our program do not offer Zolpidem”, Bertha read the following
“But if you’re in the U.S., you can compare drug prices at your local pharmacies using a prescription discount card or coupon.”
She then clicked the “Search U.S. Local Pharmacy” button (see example below)–
–typed in her zip code and compared neighborhood pharmacy prices that are only available using a prescription discount coupon. She discovered that the cash price with the coupon was only about $10 – much better than the $46 she would have had to pay without insurance. She went to her local pharmacy and filled the script with no problems.
Like most Americans, Bertha has health insurance and a prescription drug plan. Unfortunately, tens of millions still do not. For them, if they get a script for Ambien, the savings can be even more dramatic with a prescription coupon or discount card. For example, I found at least one pharmacy charging $159 for a one-month supply of Zolpidem 5mg! Against that price, finding it for ten bucks with a coupon is a savings of $149/month or 94%!
If you’re still awake after reading this, I’m going to throw you a curve ball: there is a lot of controversy about prescription sleep medication, including Ambien, related to overprescribing, side effects, and questionable benefits. I found a good article about it in the New York Times and I recommend it. But if you get that prescription from your healthcare provider for Ambien, and are ready to fill it: go local, not international and check local pharmacy prices on PharmacyChecker.com.
Tagged with: Ambien, controlled drugs, discount drug cards, local p, verified pharmacies, Zopidem
by PharmacyChecker.com | Dec 4, 2015 | Drug Prices, Online Pharmacies
When you think about skincare products, you might not consider them the most crucial medications. But while some skincare medications are more cosmetic, many also treat conditions that are painful, unpleasant, or can have serious consequences. Unfortunately, prices for this class of medications have been rising rapidly, outpacing inflation and salaries, at a time when many Americans are facing out-of-pocket medication costs.
According to a new study by the American Medical Association’s JAMA Dermatology, between 2009 and 2015 many widely prescribed medications in this class increased in price by 200% or more. In fact, two of the drugs in this study, Targetin gel and Carac Cream, increased by nearly 1,700%! Even those medications with less spectacular increases such as Solaraze gel, Clobex Spray and Benzaclin increased between 146% and 325% during the same period.
Benzaclin, which is widely considered one of the best acne treatments, costs on average $503.85 at local U.S. pharmacies according to the JAMA study. But that same medication can be purchased from a verified international online pharmacy for $71.76, a savings of 86%. A 4.25 oz bottle of Clobex Spray, which treats a form of severe psoriasis, was found to retail for an average of $958.01. At an online pharmacy you could find the same amount of that medication for $293.07, a 69% savings. And while the same study found Solaraze gel, which is used to treat actinic keratosis, a type of precancerous skin growth would costs $1,883.98 for those forced to pay out of pocket, that same medication could be purchased online for $170, or 91% less!
| Drug |
Strength |
Price Rise 2005-2009 |
Retail Pharmacy |
Online Pharmacy |
Savings |
% Savings |
| Solaraze gel |
100 g |
325% |
$ 1,883.98 |
$ 170.00 |
$ 1,713.98 |
91% |
| Benzaclin |
50 g |
202% |
$ 503.85 |
$ 71.76 |
$ 417.47 |
86% |
| Clobex spray |
4 oz |
146% |
$ 958.01 |
$ 293.07 |
$ 664.94 |
69% |
| *Based on purchase of 177mL (6 oz.) bottle of Clobex spray for $414.99 at an online pharmacy. |
Whether treating acne, psoriasis or lesions, taking care of the largest and most visible organ in the human body should leave you comfortable in your skin, not feeling skinned alive.
by PharmacyChecker.com | Sep 22, 2015 | Drug Prices, Generic drugs, Online Pharmacies, Specialty Drugs
Martin Shkreli, founder and chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals. Not that cool.
It’s no secret that Americans are unhappy with Big Pharma. Pharmaceutical companies regularly rank as one of the least loved industries, right up there (or down there) with Big Oil and Big Government. And while this has usually been expressed as contempt towards the industry as a whole, recently the negative spotlight is shining brightly on one man: Martin Shkreli, hedge fund investor and drug company entrepreneur.
Soon after his company Turing Pharmaceuticals purchased the marketing rights to the drug Daraprim, Shkreli raised the price of Daraprim from $13.50 per pill to $750.00 per pill in the U.S. market where Turing has exclusive marketing rights. But that only affects America! Thankfully, consumers can purchase Daraprim, marketed by GlaxoSmithKline in the UK, from a verified international online pharmacy for as low as only $1.53 per pill. A mere savings of 99.8%.
Daraprim is used to treat toxoplasmosis, a disease that results from infection with the Toxoplasma gondii parasite. This parasite is very common (in fact it’s been estimated that 22% of U.S. population have been exposed to it and it usually infects people who have eaten undercooked meat, raw vegetables, or have handled cat feces. In healthy people it usually only causes flu-like systems. However this disease can cause severe complications in people with compromised immune systems, such as those with HIV or cancer, including brain lesions and seizures. The disease can also be very harmful to women who are pregnant, leading to a stillborn child or a child born with birth defects.
It’s not rare for medications that treat a rare disease or a small patient population to be expensive. Moreover, it’s understandable that pharmaceutical companies want to recoup the extensive costs of developing a drug and make a profit, although Big Pharma’s lust for profits appears insatiable. But let’s take a deep breath…Daraprim is not some new wonder drug. It was originally developed and marketed by Burroughs Wellcome and patented back in 1953 (the patent expired in the 70s). A relatively inexpensive drug, it was long manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, until that company sold the U.S. marketing rights to CorePharma in 2010. Impax Laboratories later bought CorePharma, and turned around and sold the rights to the drug to Turing.
At that point Mr. Shkreli and our friends at Turing decided to change how Daraprim was distributed. Hospitals, instead of going to a wholesaler, now had to order from Turing’s “Daraprim Direct” program. Patients, instead of going to their neighborhood pharmacy had to order from Walgreen’s Specialty Pharmacy. And since there is no approved generic in the United States, patients who need Daraprim face monopoly pricing, with no competition to Turing on the horizon. Many people of all political stripes seem to be enraged over price gouging like this, because it seems like they’re getting the worst of corporate monopoly and government protectionism.
In order to get this medication, American consumers may need to look across the pond. As mentioned above, GlaxoSmithKline may have sold their U.S. marketing rights to Daraprim in 2010 but not in many countries around the world, such as England, where it’s sold for pennies to the pill!
It only seems fair, not to mention in the interest of public health, that an important drug like this, that’s listed on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines, should not be one subject to the twisted reality and bizarre rationalizing of hedge fund managers.
Tagged with: Daraprim, GlaxoSmithKline, Martin Shkreli, toxoplasmosis, Turing Pharmaceuticals, UK
