by PharmacyChecker.com | Jun 5, 2015 | Advocacy, Government, Online Pharmacies, Policy, Prescription Drug Reports, Rogue Online Pharmacies
For the past three months or so, we’ve published a section a week of our report called “Online Pharmacies, Personal Drug Importation and Public Health.” The report was written to call attention to a woefully flawed and highly misleading report published by the Government Accountability Office about Internet pharmacies and how best to carry out enforcement actions to protect consumers from rogue online pharmacies. Rogue pharmacy websites that endanger public health require serious efforts by regulators and law enforcement personnel, domestically and globally. However, instead of focusing all efforts on the tens of thousands of rouge pharmacy websites polluting the Internet, the federal government and private industry are also targeting the safest international online pharmacies, ones that Americans rely on to obtain affordable medication. Why?
Through this series on our blog, we’ve tried to draw the attention and understanding of our elected leaders and the public-at-large to the fact that the pharmaceutical industry, along with U.S. chain pharmacies, are clearly the ones driving policy, including enforcement priorities when it comes to the issue of online access to safe and affordable medication. In some cases, drug companies are directly funding law enforcement officials. And those companies don’t want Americans obtaining much more affordable and safe medication from pharmacies outside the U.S. And with that, we publish the conclusion to our report.
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Tagged with: chain pharmacies, GAO, Government Accountability Office, pharmaceutical industry, public health, rogue online pharmacies
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | May 29, 2015 | Drug Prices, Generic drugs, Online Pharmacies
Yesterday, AARP published its latest Rx Price Watch report, which highlights generic prescription medication price changes from 2006-2013. Generic medication is considered the best avenue towards lower taxpayer and consumer drug costs. In the mid-1980s, passage of the Hatch-Waxman Act helped bring lower cost generic medication to the market faster and fueled intense price competition among generic manufacturers. The result was 1) much lower drug prices on medications that have lost their patents (often 90% lower) and 2) an exceedingly high generic penetration rate with generics comprising 85% of all medication use. AARP’s report suggests that generic drug prices continue to decrease, which is good, but at a much slower rate, “indicating that the era of consistent generic drug price decreases may be coming to an end.”
Stay calm. Generics are still usually much lower cost than the brand names and that will continue to be the case. AARP’s report notes that 2013 had the lowest average generic price decrease (4.1%) since 2006. However, AARP’s data also shows considerable fluctuation in this rate, enough to question whether or not we’re really experiencing a new normal in which generic drug prices no longer decline year after year. For example, the decreases in average generic drug prices that occurred in the prior two years, 2011 and 2012, 9.1% and 14.5%, respectively, were the highest since 2006. These numbers, however, most likely reflect what’s referred to as the “patent cliff” – a time when many patents on blockbuster brand name drugs, such as Lipitor and Plavix, lost their patents, thus allowing much lower cost generics to enter the market. As I see it, we don’t really know the future trend of generic drug prices.
Again, most generic drugs are way cheaper than their brand name counterparts and just as safe and effective. The big generic drug problem is that the cost of some generics has spiked outrageously over the past few years, sometimes beyond the reach of the American consumer. Usually when we talk about insane price increases of brand name drugs year over year the percentages are 10, 20, 30 or even 40%. But the increases for some generics have literally been in the 2000% range! One crazy example, reported by the People’s Pharmacy, showed that the cost of the antibiotic doxycycline skyrocketed from six cents ($.06) to $3.30, a 5500% increase.
In fact, directing you back to our research from November 2014, we found that even brand name versions sold in foreign pharmacies can be MUCH lower cost than the generics sold here! Please keep in mind that those same generics mentioned in our analysis may have already come down in price domestically. So before you buy from an international online pharmacy, check your local pharmacy first.
Tagged with: AARP, brand name drugs, Doxycycline, generic drugs, Hatch-Waxman Act, Lipitor, Plaxvix, The People's Pharmacy
by PharmacyChecker.com | May 29, 2015 | FDA, Government, Internet Censorship, Online Pharmacies, Policy, Public Health
Tens of millions of Americans cannot afford medication, which can lead to more sickness, hospitalizations, and even death. Despite this public health crisis, our trusted regulatory authorities, the pharmaceutical industry, and U.S. pharmacy trade groups work together to scare Americans away from ordering much more affordable medications from foreign pharmacies. Is that right or wrong?
This week, in our continuing quest to get the truth out and for our elected leaders in Congress to take bold action to protect online access to safe and affordable medication, we’re publishing the next section of our report called Online Pharmacies, Personal Drug Importation, and Public Health…
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Tagged with: BeSafeRx, Canadian Internet pharmacies, FDA, GAO, ICANN, NBAP, safe online pharmacies
by PharmacyChecker.com | May 15, 2015 | FDA, Online Pharmacies, Policy, Politics, Rogue Online Pharmacies
There are potentially tens of thousands of dangerous pharmacy websites, sometimes referred to as “rogue online pharmacies,” polluting the Internet and endangering the health of consumers worldwide. There are a much smaller group of safe domestic online pharmacies. Then there are an even smaller group of safe international online pharmacies, ones that we have verified, that sell many medications at much lower cost. However, when Americans purchase from these international online pharmacies (often because they can’t afford medication domestically) and import safe and effective medications, they are under most circumstances violating U.S. laws, which poses a quandary for regulators, public health officials, and even some people working over at Big Pharma. What’s right and wrong? How do we get rid of the rogues without overreaching and endangering public health by stopping Americans from obtaining safe medication internationally over the Internet?
In our continuing quest to get the truth out and for our elected leaders in Congress to take bold action to protect online access to safe and affordable medication, we’re publishing the next section of our report called Online Pharmacies, Personal Drug Importation, and Public Health…
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Tagged with: Bing, CanadaDrugs.com, CSIP, DNS locking, FDA, GAO, Google, LegitScript, NABP, Newpharm.net, Operation Pangea, rogue online pharmacy, rogue pharmacies
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | May 12, 2015 | Advocacy, Government, Online Pharmacies, Policy, Politics
Well, here we go again, another bill that would formally legalize a practice that has been going on for decades: Americans importing meds from Canadian pharmacies, at the very least to cut down on their drug bills, and in some cases even to afford life-saving medicines. Sorry to sound cynical, but I’ve seen these bills before and Big Pharma is always behind their failure – but what about this time?
The bill, H.R. 2228, was introduced by Representative Chellie Pingree (D-ME) barely a week ago and co-sponsored by Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), and is entitled “Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act of 2015.” It seems to mirror legislation in the Senate, S. 122, introduced by Sens. John McCain (R-NV) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), which has the same title.
The bills are focused on Canadian pharmacies only, not the wider landscape of international online pharmacies, which are often based in Canada: ones that millions of Americans have benefited from for over a decade. If H.R. 2228 passes, the FDA would be required to publish a list of approved Canadian pharmacies from which Americans could legally import, for personal use, non-controlled, non-biologic, and non-temperature sensitive, prescription medications. That would include the majority of maintenance prescription drugs that Americans are currently importing for personal use.
I support this bill 100%. Even though our program is open to safe and licensed pharmacies in other countries, not just ones in Canada and the U.S., the new bill moves the public policy and economic justice needle in the right direction. The practice of international pharmacy began with Americans crossing the border to buy lower cost medications in Canada and then, with the advent of the Internet, buying through mail order. Current law, technically, bans the practice and, unjustly, views it as a criminal act – even though no one has been prosecuted for it. The new bill in the House and Senate would lift the unethical ban on buying lower cost medications for their own use from Canada. Amen and Word Up to that!
So head on over to RxRights.org to contact your elected representatives and let them know you want them to vote for the Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act of 2015!
Tagged with: affordable prescriptions, Big Pharma, Canadian pharmacies, H.R. 2228, House of Representatives, legalizing personal drug importation, personal drug importation, RxRights.org, S.122, Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act of 2015, Senate, United States
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | May 6, 2015 | Drug Prices, Online Pharmacies
Sorry to sound macabre, but you could die if you don’t fill and adhere to your healthcare practitioner’s prescription for Xarelto (ravaroxaban). It is an anticoagulant, a medication that lowers the rate of blood clots and thereby lowers the risk of stroke. Especially if you were diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation, a condition characterized by problems associated with irregular heart rate or rhythm, it’s likely that you were prescribed an anticoagulant, such as Xarelto, Pradaxa, or Warfarin. I’m talking about Xarelto because it’s a relatively new brand name drug, which is not available as a generic, and some people who need it might not be able to afford it. It is not necessarily the best anticoagulant out there for you. Alternative medications are available and in use.
If you don’t have insurance or your insurance does not cover Xarelto, then you could face the out-of-pocket costs, which are about $1,176 for a three-month supply of the 20mg pill. If you can afford that then consider yourself lucky. For those who cannot, you could try a Xarelto patient assistance program. Alternatively, ask your doctor or other healthcare provider, and do your own research about another anti-coagulant, such as Pradaxa and Warfarin, that could work for you.
If you do not qualify for a patient assistance program, and your healthcare provider insists on Xarelto, there are verified international online pharmacies that sell brand name Xarelto at a very low price. In fact, the lowest cost international option runs you $2.08/pill, which is $187.20 for 90 tablets. That’s a savings of 84% or almost $1,000 over three months, $4,000 over the course of a year, versus the cash price at some U.S. pharmacies.
For those interested in where your medications come from: the Xarelto 20mg you buy in the U.S. is manufactured in Puerto Rico, according to the U.S. label. Our research shows that the lowest cost international option for Xarelto was manufactured in Germany by Bayer Pharma AG.
I started this post noting the mortality risks of not taking prescribed medications. I’d like to now return to this public health issue not in order to inflame or dramatize but to remind consumers and health officials about the public crisis of high drug prices. Strokes often cause death. Not taking your prescribed anticoagulant can increase your chance of having a stroke. Thirty-five million Americans don’t fill a prescription each year due to high prices; if Xarelto was one of these medicines, then its high price may have prevented people from obtaining it. Some of those people, unfortunately, may have had strokes and passed away. The point here is to not ignore your healthcare provider’s prescription and advice. Follow-up quickly and fill your prescription. If you can’t afford it, then pursue all available options.
Tagged with: Atrial Fibrillation, Bayer Pharmer AG, Drug Prices, patient assistance program, Pradaxa, Warfarin, Xarelto
