by Lucia Mueller, President, PharmacyChecker.com | Jun 30, 2017 | Advocacy
Amidst Washington’s vapid attempt at “solving” healthcare, Americans continue dealing with the everyday obstacles that come with prioritizing our families’ health, and all the while, prescription drug costs just keep rising. Minority communities are particularly at risk.
The crisis of rising drug costs expands beyond minority groups, but studies show that Hispanics are more likely to forgo filling a prescription due to cost than the population at large. Worse, as immigrants increasingly fear leaving their homes, undocumented immigrants will be less likely to get needed medications. Wherever you stand on the immigration issue, this trend is unacceptable and must be combatted by educating all people about lower cost drugs available abroad, but some people are getting this wrong…
In a recent op-ed written by Garfield Clunie and Richard Williams and published in Morning Consult, a well-meaning yet dangerous claim is made—that “if [Congress permits the importation of prescription medicines from other countries], the United States government will actually be promoting the use of counterfeit and unsafe medications.” This is simply false. (more…)
Tagged with: garfield clunie, minorities, Online Pharmacies, personal drug importation, richard williams
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Oct 23, 2015 | Drug Importation, Government
In his article for AFRO – “A Growing National Outcry for Lower Prescription Drug Prices” – we were pleased to be noted by Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) as a supporter of the Prescription Drug Affordability Act of 2015, and one of several organizations, including Public Citizen, Families USA, and Knowledge Ecology International that “speak of millions of Americans.” The bill was also introduced in the Senate by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who is a candidate for the Democratic Primary.
Rep. Cummings highlights the fact that American public opinion is overwhelmingly in favor of legal and regulatory reform to bring down drug prices. His legislation calls for Medicare to negotiate drug prices with drug companies, ending “pay-to-delay” deals, which are often characterized as payoffs from brand to generic drug companies to postpone introducing a lower cost generic, and reforming drug importation laws to expand our access to lower cost medications in other countries.
PharmacyChecker.com is not taking sides in a partisan fashion. Republicans, Democrats, and independents agree on the urgency of tackling drug prices in America. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Charles Grassley (R-IW), and David Vitter (R-LA) have all introduced and sponsored drug importation reform legislation over the past few years that we support. Another example is Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, who wrote an op-ed strongly in favor of legal reform of drug importation to help Americans buy lower cost medications from Canada.
The most critical factor is that we move in the right direction towards expanding access to affordable medication, and we salute Congressman Cummings for doing so.
Tagged with: Bernie Sanders, Charles Grassley, Congress, David Vitter, drug importation reform legislation, drugs from canada, Elijah Cummings, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, personal drug importation, Prescription Drug Affordability Act of 2015
by PharmacyChecker.com | Oct 9, 2015 | Drug Importation, Drug Prices, FDA
“Abstract pills” by Robson – Flickr
We issued a press release yesterday about our new drug price savings analysis, which shows that consumers can save 84% on average among a basket of 10 popular branded maintenance medications if purchased from verified international online pharmacies instead of local U.S. pharmacies. Many of the savings are over 90%! The greatest savings is 94% for the acid-blocking drug Nexium ($946.50 in the U.S. vs. $53.09 online for a three month supply of 40 mg pills) and the cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor ($803.89 vs. $51.40 – 20 mg pills). The greatest dollar savings is for the antipsychotic drug Abilify ($3,178.99 vs. $237.05 – 10 mg pills). The average annual savings per drug is $3,479. Despite this, last month, the U.S. FDA announced a “new rule” regarding its expanded authority to destroy personally imported medicine under Section 708 of the Food and Drug Administration Safety Act of 2012. Several members of congress have raised concern that FDA’s rules may impede access to affordable medication. [1]
The FDA says that its new regulation is meant to protect patients from unsafe medications and counterfeit drugs but the agency doesn’t seem to say how they will distinguish safe from potentially unsafe personal drug imports.
For the full press release, click here.
Prices for a 3-month supply of top-selling brand name medications
| Drug |
Local U.S. Pharmacy Price |
International Online Pharmacy Price* |
International Online Savings |
Annual Savings |
| Nexium 40mg |
$946.50 |
$53.09 |
94% |
$3,573.64 |
| Crestor 20mg |
$803.89 |
$51.40 |
94% |
$3,009.96 |
| Abilify 10mg |
$3,178.99 |
$237.05 |
93% |
$11,767.75 |
| Advair Diskus 250/50mcg (180 doses) |
$1,203.00 |
$99.99 |
92% |
$4,412.04 |
| Spiriva Handihaler 18mcg |
$1,221.00 |
$113.99 |
91% |
$4,428.04 |
| Diovan 80mg |
$611.99 |
$57.85 |
91% |
$2,216.56 |
| Synthroid 100mcg |
$137.99 |
$26.99 |
80% |
$444.00 |
| Jardiance 10mg |
$1,150.00 |
$287.99 |
75% |
$3,448.04 |
| Ventolin HFA 100mcg |
$192.00 |
$68.82 |
64% |
$492.72 |
| Lantus Solostar 15ml |
$397.89 |
$148.94 |
63% |
$995.80 |
| Average |
$984.33 |
$114.62 |
84% |
$3,478.85 |
Sources: Local pharmacy prices based on prices at chain drugstores in New York City; International online pharmacy prices based on lowest prices listed on PharmacyChecker.com. All prices obtained on September 30, 2015.
*Medications dispensed by licensed pharmacies, verified by PharmacyChecker.com, in one of the following countries Australia, Barbados, Canada, India, Mauritius, New Zealand, Turkey, Singapore, or United Kingdom.
[1] U.S. Senator David Vitter, “Vitter Fights to Keep Prescription Drug Prices Affordable Through Reimportation,” July 9, 2014 [press release], see [www] vitter.senate.gov/newsroom/press/vitter-fights-to-keep-prescription-drug-prices-affordablethrough-reimportation [Last accessed 9/20/14]. 38 Representative JoAnn Emerson (MO), “Food and Drug Administration Reform Act.” May 30th 2012. See [www] votesmart.org/public-statement/702416/food-and-drug-administration-reform-act-of-2012#.UxVJN-co4s9 [Last accessed 9/22/14]. Letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by Congressman Keith Ellison dated July 1st, 2014. See See [www] regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FDA-2014-N-0504-0022.
Tagged with: brand name drugs, Drug Prices, FDA, Food and Drug Administration Safety Act, international pharmacies, Online Pharmacies, personal drug importation
Amidst Washington’s vapid attempt at “solving” healthcare, Americans continue dealing with the everyday obstacles that come with prioritizing our families’ health, and all the while, prescription drug costs just keep rising. Minority communities are particularly at risk.
