by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Jan 31, 2014 | Advocacy, Drug Prices, Pharmaceutical Industry
Due to its lobbying efforts against drug importation reform to lower medication costs and funding of groups that mislead Americans about online pharmacies, scaring them away from safe and affordable medication sold outside the U.S., we often criticize Big Pharma on this blog. Speaking somewhat personally, I question myself sometimes whether they are deserving of such constant criticism. And then I read Daniel Hoffman from Philly.com in “Drug Prices: Higher and Higher” – and I’m reminded that they are!
Big Pharma is a on global government relations blitzkrieg to pressure countries into raising drug prices, spouting nonsense that the higher drug prices are supported by lower health care costs overall. Dr. Hoffman writes about pharma’s efforts in Germany to end a practice that enables doctors and other healthcare professionals to determine if new medications are truly an advance over old ones and merit higher drug prices. If they don’t then the government insurance plans will not reimburse for those products at a higher rate than older, proven medications. Seems fair!
Dr. Hoffman writes that India, with an incredibly dynamic pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, fights back against what that country views as overly aggressive intellectual property claims by Western drug companies. Sometimes India even views those patents as a threat to public health, and when it does it issues a “compulsory license” – the right to manufacture a generic even though there’s a patent in place.
I contend that this tactic can be abused by governments pressured by their own pharmaceutical industries – such as India. However, sometimes they are needed to save lives. What made me sick was a comment made by the CEO of Bayer, Marijib Dekkers, about India’s issuing a compulsory license for the drug Nexavar, which treats late stage kidney cancer. I’d prefer to quote a long section from Hoffman’s piece:
“We did not develop this medicine (Nexavar) for Indians,” Marijn Dekkers declared with unconcealed disdain. “We developed it for western patients who can afford it.”
A spokesperson for Doctors Without Borders later claimed that Dekkers represents ” ‘everything that is wrong’ with the multinational pharmaceutical industry.” (See here.)
That may be one way of looking at it. The other is that Dekkers is just more candid in admitting that pharma is all about making money and if millions of people have to die as a result, that’s just the way it is.
So are we being too hard on Big Pharma? The answer is no.
Tagged with: Bayer, Daniel Hoffman, Nexavar
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Jan 23, 2014 | Drug Prices, Saving Money on Prescription Drugs
Tom Sengupta, pharmacist at Schneider Drug
A recent story on PBS made it pretty clear to me that you ought to check out your local mom and pop pharmacy before going to a big chain drugstore or an online pharmacy. Not only might you find better drug prices, but you could also be supporting the business of someone who really cares about you. I’m talking about people like Tom Sengupta, a pharmacist at Schneider Drug in Minnesota, who puts patients before maximizing profits, unlike some of the big pharmacy corporations.
Carol Thompson used to pay over $400 for a brand name drug, but once it went generic the price plummeted to $10 at her local Costco. That’s what we’ve come to except and need from our generic medication: much lower prices. Curious about prices at other pharmacies, Ms. Thompson called around and found some other pharmacies were charging about $400!
Mr. Sengupta is not the kind of guy who would charge you $400 for a generic medication. He explains that big chain pharmacies often determine drug prices for generics by simply charging less than the brand name drug, rather than a small mark-up from the wholesale drug price of the generic, like Schneider Drug does. Sometimes their pricing can even depend on the circumstances of the individual buying. Mr. Sengupta says: “My pricing is based on the person I’m talking to. You know, because if they need something, this is my responsibility to provide that to them. I’m not losing any money.”
Schneider Drug
PBS reported that Schneider Drug charges $14 for 30 pills of Letrozole 2.5mg. We just placed a phone call to a “local” chain pharmacy and they quoted a price of $599 – over 4,000% higher! Outraged by the pricing policies of some big chain pharmacies, Mr. Sengupta stated: “How could you justify that? You know? If you had any morality – we don’t need to make money like that. We have to ask, what’s happening? Where is their moral compass?”
So next time you have to fill a script check out your local independent pharmacy’s price. And if you’re visiting the Twin Cities and need a prescription medication, pay a visit to Mr. Sengupta!
Tagged with: Letrozole, PBS, Schneider Drug, Tom Sengupta
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Jan 16, 2014 | Advocacy, Drug Importation, Online Pharmacies
The Philadelphia Inquirer continues to cover the issue of high drug prices in the U.S. with an article about Americans purchasing medication from international online pharmacies. The “Ins, outs of getting meds overseas” provides useful information for consumers, most importantly that Americans ordering medication internationally should only do so from credentialed online pharmacies and that the FDA, despite technical prohibitions on personal drug importation, does not prosecute Americans for doing so.
I was particularly intrigued by the remarks of one physician when asked about his patients buying medication from international online pharmacies. He sheds a lot of light on two issues: 1) the serious health crisis surrounding Americans not adhering to prescriptions (not taking their meds) because of high drug costs, and 2) the fundamental difference between online pharmacies that require a prescription and those that don’t. In describing his conversation with cardiologist David Becker, journalist Paul Jablow writes:
When patients ask him to give them a written prescription rather than sending the scripts electronically to a pharmacy, he says he assumes they’re buying overseas from a reputable pharmacy, and “I have no problem with that.” What concerns him more, he says, are the patients who come to him and say they’ve been neglecting their medications for months.
While we would strongly caution a consumer against buying prescription drugs from an online pharmacy that was not verified by an experienced credentialing organization, the doctor’s assumption of safety is somewhat warranted. That’s because, unlike Americans risking their health by seeking medications online without a prescription from rouge online pharmacies, his patients have real prescriptions. Prescription requirement is a very strong indication of, but not necessarily a guarantee of, an online pharmacy’s safety. Dr. Becker is apparently aware of this and his greatest concern is where the focus of more healthcare professionals needs to be: drug affordability.
Tagged with: Philadephia Inquirer
by Gabriel Levitt, Vice President, PharmacyChecker.com and Sam Werbalowsky, Pharmacychecker.com | Jan 10, 2014 | Drug Importation, Drug Prices, Generic drugs
Americans are used to high drug prices — at least for brand-name medications, which are often five times more expensive in the U.S. than in other countries. Conversely, Americans are used to low-cost generics, which are often cheaper here than internationally. Unfortunately, the U.S. generic pharmaceutical market is out of whack! Generic drug prices have begun rapidly rising over the past few months…
And rapidly rising can mean a price increase of 6,000%, as reported by recent articles in the Huffington Post, Washington Times, and The People’s Pharmacy. Here’s an almost unbelievable fact: the brand-name drug is often much less expensive – if you shop at an international online pharmacy.
So, why such drastic increases? The People’s Pharmacy article attributes the increases to three factors. First, consolidation among generic manufacturers means less competition among drug makers; forty-four percent of all generic drug revenue goes to just three companies. Second, companies are discontinuing the manufacture of certain drugs leading to drug shortages. Finally, FDA enforcement actions have shut down certain manufacturers because of poor manufacturing practices. With reduced supply and competition, it’s no wonder that prices are increasing.
So if you’re finding your generic medication rising in price, how can you find it for less…much less? Try the brand! I’ve identified some generic drugs below that have significant savings when the brand is purchased from abroad.
Prices for Generic Medications
| Drug |
Cash Price* |
International Online Pharmacy Price (Brand) |
Potential Savings (generic) |
| Clomipramine—75 mg, 90 pills |
$985 |
$121.50+
(Anafranil) |
88% |
| Duloxetine – 60 mg, 100 pills |
$734 |
$100++
(Cymbalta) |
86% |
| Doxycycline Hyclate — 100 mg, 100 pills |
$617 |
$251.21
(Vibramycin) |
59% |
*Cash price from local pharmacy in New York City. International Online Pharmacy Prices from lowest price on PharmacyChecker.com
+ Price calculated from 100 pills
++Price calculated from 84 pills
Tagged with: Anafranil, Clomipramine, Cymbalta, Doxycycline, Duloxetine, Huffington Post, The New York Times, The People's Pharmacy, Vibramycin
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Dec 31, 2013 | Advocacy, Online Pharmacies, Personal Drug Importation, Pharmaceutical Industry, Politics
This article summarizes good things and bad that are happening online with drug prices and savings, economics, legislation, politics, and even ethics that relate to access by Americans to more affordable medication offered by safe international online pharmacies. If you’re a consumer – especially an American consumer facing high drug costs – you should read this. When you’re done (or even right now!) we recommend joining RxRights to help play a role in making medication more affordable for all Americans.
Next year, we’re planning to focus more attention on local Americans pharmacies: what they’re doing right, wrong, and in between, and how you can save and take advantage of their in-store opportunities to improve your health! But for now, the international online pharmacy report…
The Good
The money Americans could save on brand name drugs by shopping at safe international online pharmacies continued to increase in 2013. In 2011 , we reported potential savings of 80%, then a mind-boggling 85% in 2012, and now 87.6% in 2013! Savings have proliferated because America’s trading partners, such as Australia, Canada, the states of the European Union, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Turkey, generally, have kept brand drug prices stable, whereas in America they increased by an estimated 13% last year.
The pricing data referred to above is from our prescription drug price savings research released this past September. In that report we looked at popular prescription drugs that are not always covered by health insurance plans, including new plans offered as a result of Obamacare. An extreme example of savings is on the drug Abilify 10 mg, a medication prescribed for depression; $9,007.08 could be saved annually by purchasing the drug from the lowest-cost online pharmacy verified by PharmacyChecker.com compared with a retail pharmacy in New York City. A more common example of potential annual savings from international pharmacies is the $3,935.28 savings on Spiriva Handihaler 18 mcg. Drug prices are out of control in the U.S., especially for those with no domestic generic alternative, and access to international online pharmacies is as urgent as ever.
It would, of course, be better if Americans could find more reasonable prices on brand name drugs at their local pharmacies.
(more…)
Tagged with: BeSafeRx, CSIP, FDA, ICANN, international online pharmacy, NABP, RxRights
by Gabriel Levitt, Vice President, PharmacyChecker.com and Sam Werbalowsky, Pharmacychecker.com | Dec 23, 2013 | Online Pharmacies
The Internet offers almost everything, from news on sports and politics to forums and games. A new study from the Pew Research Center suggests that the Internet may even be useful in improving health outcomes. Make no mistake, the study doesn’t say that Internet access and use makes you healthier, but it does find that Americans with chronic conditions are more likely than regular Internet users to seek out information about their health. Specifically, that means gathering information online about medical issues, consulting online reviews about drugs and other treatments, and reading or watching something online about some else’s personal health experience.
The problem is that people with chronic conditions are less likely to be using the internet in the first place. Only 72% of adults with chronic conditions use the internet, compared to 89% of adults with no chronic conditions. Part of this gap is due to the fact that older Americans are more likely to have a chronic condition and also less likely to use the Internet. Only 53% (and growing) of seniors are online, compared to 85% of all Americans. It seems that the group who could make the best use of internet resources is those least likely to access them. One company’s newsletter suggests that getting Americans with chronic conditions online will help them get facts about their condition, prepare them to discuss data with their doctor, and also look for others who share their conditions.
Here at PharmacyChecker, we know that greater internet access will also help more consumers save money on their medication. We hope that Pew or other research organizations continue to study the effects of the internet and internet access on health, especially toward the goal of helping Americans find affordable healthcare, which has proven to improve health outcomes.
Tagged with: Internet access, Pew Research Center, seniors
