I live practically on the Canadian border. Lots of western NY's go across the border to buy Rx drugs. I used to buy pills on internet sites. Yep, they're expensive. What the governments ought to do is help fund projects like the Hedonistic Imperative and so forth. In 200 years popping pills will be considered archaic. Fitting me with wrist splints and just waiting for my nerves to grow back will be considered ignorant. Sawing open my chest and cutting into my heart to save my life as was done 3 years ago will be considered butchery. Figure out how to turn back on the recessive gene that calls for the construction of such things, and figure out brain chemistry to make people genuinely happy and we won't need the crap we have access to now. Unfortunatly the pharmaceutical agencies and their PACs wield too much strength and generate too much revenue for us to do the right thing. Edited to add: I have health insurance and a few months ago was prescribed Cymbalta (terrible drug for me...anyway...), the COPAY was $100.00 a month and no generics exist yet 'cause it's so new.
Holy Crap! Prescription meds are EXPENSIVE!!!
by Elsewhere 34 Replies latest jw friends
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jeeprube
Why do you think drug companies pour so much money into political campaigns? They are terrified of regulation. When governments regulate drug prices, the drug company is forced to sell their drugs at a reasonable profit margin. Absent that, the drug companies will sell them for however much they can....which is a lot. And don't think the insurance companies actually pay the drug company what they say the cost of the drug is.
Once again we see our wonderful Republican leadership at work. The new prescription drug plan under medicare is a JOKE! It amounts to nothing more than a government giveaway to big drug companies.
One more thought.....Anybody wonder why in the past 20 years we've seen no cure for serious desiese like cancer, aids, etc. But there are a whole slew of new drugs for erectile dysfunction, allergies, cholesterol, oh and did I mention erectile dysfunction? Drug companies are nothing more than big businesses. There is no profit in curing major illnesses, the profit lies in treating the symptoms. Keeping you on their drugs as long as possible, and if you eventually die, oh well.
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talesin
jeeprube,
I have an illness, they gave me two types of drugs. Fortunately for me, I had really bad side effects. I was forced to find other means. It has led me on a healing path, where I take Rx meds when I need them, but lifestyle change is the most important factor in my health. I don't use snake oils, or follow any trendy 'new age' medicine, but research the Rx drugs, diet and emotional factors involved. It is my opinion that this makes for better health care; it takes a lot of strain off the system, I feel better, my physician and I work as a team, and in the end, everybody wins except the pharmas.
Having said that, I have nothing against taking meds. I have 5 Rx in my cabinet, which I take as needed.
The pharmas spend an incredible amount of bux on lobbying both politicians and doctors, as you say.
When you examine the price of generic vs. brand name, you'll find the difference is astounding. One of the items of propaganda that was circulated in the press not too long ago, was that generic brands were 'not as good'. NOT SO! In Canada, they face the same rigid regulations as the brand names. tsk, tsk. Don't believe anything you read, unless you research it thoroughly.
Even GWB said, several years ago, that Canadian drugs weren't as safe as American. Can I tell you how fast the Canadian government and press reacted? That was one of the beginnings of the end for amicable relations between the average Canadian and GWB. Many folks felt felt it was a very low blow, we know it's totally untrue, and it's all about protectionism of the pharmas, who helped put him into office. Their level of influence goes to the highest levels, in this poster's opinion.
tal
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Mary
Elsewhere said: I just looked at a Canadian Pharmacy website and the same prescription costs $307.90 Why the hell do drugs cost so much in the US?
Because we've got a Publically Funded Health Care system up here----you guys don't. The Pharmaceudical industry in the States is one of the biggest ripoffs in the world. Needless to say, the doctors in the States aren't very keen at all on having a publically funded Health Care System because that would mean that they couldn't continue to rip off the average citizen the way they presently are.
The doctors in Canada also make alot less than what doctors in the States do which is why alot of our doctors end up leaving Canada for the States. I have no problem with a doctor making a very good living---after all, that's what they go to school for, but the amount they charge for their services in the States is insane, with absolutely no thought for the average person who doesn't have any coverage.
Doctors up here are saying that they want our health care system to be privatized, so they can charge more, but I hope to god our government doesn't go for it.......they keep cutting and cutting services now, but at least surgery and doctors' visits are paid for by the Health Care System. Plus, I have benefits where I work so anything that OHIP doesn't cover, is mostly covered by my benefits. Plus, once you turn 65 up here, your prescription drugs are all paid for by the government once you shell out the first $100.00
Anybody wonder why in the past 20 years we've seen no cure for serious desiese like cancer, aids, etc. But there are a whole slew of new drugs for erectile dysfunction, allergies, cholesterol, oh and did I mention erectile dysfunction? Drug companies are nothing more than big businesses.
Bingo.......I saw on TV several months ago, how a busload of seniors from Virginia came up to Quebec to get their prescriptions filled at something like 1/4 of the cost of what it is in the States. I think that's when the Pharmaceudical industry to the South suggested that Canadian laws aren't as stringent on prescription drugs as what they are in the States. This is a load of shit. Our guidelines are just as strict, if not stricter, than what they are south of the border. They just had to come up with something to try and justify their gouging of the American public.
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buffalosrfree
My meds which i get tfor free only cost me 25 yrs of my life in the military, whopee, I had two hospital stays in the last year for a total cost of over $100,000 and it only cost me 25 years of my life, what a bargain huh? Myl sister-n-law pays $7.00 per pill and has to take 3 a day, thats $21.00 per day 365 days a year, tell me the drug companies aren't making money head of heals kind of money they cry expenses all the way to the bank. The same pill my sister uses, made by the same company, they found when the went to mexico for cents on the dollar. now guess where she buys those pills, same company, same med, same bottle, same package, different price $7.00 per in u.s. cents on the dollar sourth of the border, Canadians and u.s. citizens are getting ripped off.
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Cygnus
Mary, a lot of doctors aren't even aware of the prices. When I told my doc my co-pay for Cymbalta was $100.00 a month, he nearly flipped out. There's so much ignorance out there, and people just don't seem to care that much......... until they get sick and go bankrupt. I'm unfortunately a good example of that. :(
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Gerard
That is why African countries want to produce generic retroviral drugs against HIV .
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Es
Its an outrage...im on a health care card at the moment so i get my prescriptions for $4.64 aus. But as soon as i get married i loose it so im trying to stock up now. es
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G Money
You are in Taxas, if you can dodge the bullets of duelling drug lords, go to Mexico to a farmacia like farmacia guadalajara and check the prices. Sometimes you can get good deals, better than Canada.
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FlyingHighNow
I treat myself with herbs, vitamins and natural remedies. I stay healthier. I have no insurance. If it turns out that I need an expensive Rx, basically I'm screwed, unless the doc can give me samples. I don't even have the money to go the doctor for an Rx.
Years ago, when I was but a wee chile, my daddy told me that the US government and big business were trying to do away with the middle class and move to two classes: the very wealthy and the various stages of poor. I see what he means now. Dad just might be right. If no one but the very rich ends up being able to access health care, then who the heck's going to support their greedy azzez? I mean, we'll all be sick and ailing and dying. Who's going to do their labor for them, if we're all too sick to do it?
It's Social Darwinism. It's a backdoor holocaust. And now that the gas prices are skyrocketing, we won't be able to travel much either. "Keep that middle class down, Mr. Prezident."