by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Feb 5, 2016 | Controlled Drugs, Online Pharmacies
The prescription narcotic epidemic in America is banging on our national consciousness, almost as loudly as the issue of skyrocketing drug prices. The pharmaceutical industry and its front groups have tried in the past to conflate safe international online pharmacies with the illegal and dangerous online sale of controlled drugs, including prescription narcotics, and I’ve called them out over the years. Safe international online pharmacies do not sell prescription narcotics at all. But, unlike safe international online pharmacies, which sell non controlled medications at much lower prices, is Big Pharma pushing narcotics and fueling drug addiction in America? Apparently, yes.
As reported in The Fix, a documentary film called “Prescription Thugs” explores the connection between the pharmaceutical industry, the power it wields in Congress, and the painkiller addiction epidemic. It is the story of people who were introduced to painkillers when their doctors prescribed them, only to find themselves addicted. For years, the industry was making a certain formulation of the popular prescription opiate OxyContin that was easily abused by addicts and therefore driving astronomical sales. When a new form of the drug made it harder to crush and therefore inject intravenously, its sales tanked by 80%. You can view the film’s trailer at http://www.prescriptionthugs.com/.
(more…)
Tagged with: Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies, Big Pharma, controlled drugs, Partnership for Safe Medicines, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Jan 29, 2016 | Drug Prices, Medicare Drug Plans
I’ll keep it real brief today. So far this year, most reviews on our Part D ratings site – MedicareDrugPlans.com – are written by frustrated and angry American seniors who have discovered they will be paying much more money for prescription drugs in 2016. I, happily, concede that there are millions of satisfied seniors who are going about their year with good Part D coverage. For instance, so far my mom is happy (but I helped her pick her plan). Let’s face it: millions of others are not happy and they are rightfully venting. Let us know about your experiences with Medicare Part D this year, by rating and reviewing your plans. Note: We want to hear good reviews (we know some of you are happy with your plans) to help people find the best plans!
For an overview of the venting, check out the reviews below.
Premium Punch
Plan: Cigna-HealthSpring Rx Secure – California
Username: Ruthielou
Review: This plan was $39 in 2015…increased to $77…I received no notification of the increase, and did not realize it had changed until I received my Jan credit card statement by then it was too late to make a change….I would absolutely not choose this company in the future. Major rip off for senior citizens!
Multiple Medicare Part D Mayhem
Plan: Humana Walmart Rx Plan – South Carolina
Username: brigs
Review: Explanations of coverage terrible. They challenged our first two prescriptions although we had been taking them already. Looks like they almost automatically reject prescriptions and force you to get exceptions — wear you down. So far it’s everything bad you’ve heard about insurance companies. And the Wal-Mart guy (pharmacist)? I asked one question: ‘Which of these are tier one and two”. His ‘helpful” response. “I haven’t the faintest idea”
Drug Cost Smack
Plan: Blue MedicareRx Value Plus
Username: angryman
Review: i enrolled and used plan for 4 months and then they bumped the cost of an in-office infusion therapy from $40 dollars per treatment, (every 8 weeks), to $862!!!!!!! No notification. Dropped them like a rock and off to MEDEX with separate plan for prescriptions.
Tagged with: Blue MedicareRx Value Plus, Cigna-HealthSpring Rx Secure, Humana Walmart Rx Plan, Medicare Part D, medicaredrugplans.com
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Jan 22, 2016 | Drug Prices, Government, Online Pharmacies
Unfortunately, public scrutiny about high drug prices doesn’t usually lead to legislative fixes, such as passing legislation that would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry and expand the practice of safe personal drug importation so more consumers access lower prices from foreign pharmacies. On the other hand, a New York Times article – “Even Talking About Reducing Drug Prices Can Reduce Drug Prices” – suggests, well, that “talking about” drug prices can reduce them, because pharma executives get scared that if they don’t moderate drug prices, more permanent and progressive fixes will finally happen.
(more…)
Tagged with: Bernie Sanders, Big Pharma, Drug Prices, Hilary Clinton, House Committee on Government and Oversight, Marco Rubio, Martin Shkreli, Medicare Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003, Medicare Part D, New York Times
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.
(more…)
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?
(more…)
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
