As the retrial of former Governor Rod Blagojevich on corruption charges commences, we’d like to re-direct your attention to the personal drug importation program he championed. Had that program received better backing from our politicians, fewer Americans would have gone without needed medications.
In October of 2004, a personal drug importation program called I-Save Rx was launched under the leadership of Blagojevich and then Congressman Rahm Immanuel. The lead pharmacist responsible for the program’s development was Ram Kamath, PharmD, now Director of Pharmacy Policy and International Verifications for PharmacyChecker.com. I-Save Rx showed state residents how to access affordable medication from approved pharmacies in Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Within just seven months, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kansas and Vermont had joined the initiative, allowing their residents to participate as well.
Unfortunately, after its approval, the government did not market the I-Save Rx program and it suffered due a lack of political will. But I-Save Rx’s creation proved that government could, without much difficulty, create a program to facilitate the purchase of affordable medication from Canada and other countries. In fact, our current Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, was governor of Kansas when she approved the program for use by her state’s residents. It should speak volumes that the administration official now tasked by President Obama with “protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves” approved of a personal drug importation program and made it available to the residents of Kansas. (more…)
We are proud to announce a second free edition of a special report written for the American consumer, entitled How To Save Money on Prescription Drugs, Safely – A Consumer Guide. In the first edition, published in 2008, our data showed a potential average savings on brand name drugs of 73% from verified international online pharmacies; the savings are now 80%. These even greater savings are due largely to increases in drug prices in the United States and stable or even lower drug prices outside the United States.
With generic drugs, the best prices remain in the U.S. By shopping at wholesale club online pharmacies and large retailers with discounted generics, average savings of 82% are possible on widely used generic drug products.
Sadly, too many Americans skip doses or stop taking their medication all together because of cost. In fact, recent data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control shows that 25 million Americans did not take their medication due to cost in 2009. Affording prescription drugs should not be a matter of life and death. Our Consumer Guide offers a lifeline to American patients, enabling them to safely lower their drug costs to access the healthcare they need.
For more information on the Consumer Guide, see our news release.
Just in time for the 2011 open enrollment period, UnitedHealth Group Inc. has announced that it will allow its AARP MedicareRx and AARP MedicareComplete Medicare Advantage prescription drug plan participants to purchase 30-day supplies of many generic drugs from Kroger and Safeway chain stores for just $2; 90-day supplies may cost just $4. Between these two pharmacy groups, 397 generic drugs are covered in the program, and both chain stores offer the program via mail-order pharmacy (Prescription Solutions) as well.
Simvastatin, the generic for Zocor – a cholesterol lowering drug, and Metoprolol succinate, the generic of the high blood pressure drug Toprol, are just two of many $2 drugs found on the monthly supply list. You can find a 90-day supply of Ibuprofren 400 – 800mg for just $5. To see which other generics are listed, visit the Pharmacy Saver information and search page. (more…)
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…)
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.
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A source for news and analysis about drug prices and safety, online pharmacies and personal drug importation, published on behalf of American consumers.
