I think the answer is to have a discussion with your doctor over which drugs are appropriate, including cost as one of the many considerations, then shop around, buy generic when possible, and get the best prices whenever you can.

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

I agree, that's about all the individual can do.

Following that...

"A friend of a friend" have mention that you could approach the Pharma company direct and they have a way to subsidy drug sale to the public without good income...shall we say.... There is not any kind of verification of your income....it is very quick procedure... perhaps you should give it a try if you need drugs... As I wrote someone told me this
Please don't quote me on it I will deny any involvement in this information. Get in touch with local office, public relation office etc.

__________________
http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/v...7/scotflag.gif http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/v.../scot2flag.gif

"If women are so bloody perfect at multitasking how come they can't have a headache and sex at the same time?"
Billy Connolly

One time last Spring I had to have a prescription filled that I normally get at Costco for around $7. Our Costco Pharmacy is not open on Sunday, other wise I would not have considered buying them somewhere else.

Since it was a drug that has been out for 40 years, I assumed it might be on Wal-Marts list of $4 drugs. No such luck, the price for a 30 day supply was $28 the first time, and when I went to refill it a month later it had gone up to $32. I declined, then went to Costco and had them transfer the Prescription instead. Costco had lowered their price to $5.80, so I was quite happy I had. Last I refilled it was only$5.18.

__________________
1979 240D, 4spd manual, Power Sunroof, manual windows, 147k miles, Pastel gray/Black MB Tex.
1991 300D 2.5 - Smokes like it's on Crack!

I understand, my daughter has one prescription that retails for over $1200 for a 30 day supply, I only pay $40 after insurance. Luckily, I have good insurance coverage. However, I also realize that this drug would not exist if they had not been allowed to recover their development costs.

Monday, October 9, 2006

Costco Prescription Drug Email Is A Hoax

Summary: Do not believe any report where a government official claims to endorse any specific product or vendor.

This was one of the fastest hoaxes we have busted, probably because we are so used to busting false emails circulating that Boycott Watch has developed an eye for these things, and we have got myth-busting down to a science.

Here's the scoop: An email is circulating claiming a US Government official is telling people to go to Costco because they have gotten around high drug prices by buying off shore.

Here's the problem:
1) The alleged author of the email does not exist.
2) The phone number is assigned to a different department, and neither department deals in drugs or the pricing thereof.
3) Government officials are not permitted to recommend any specific brands or businesses.
4) The email does not take into account the recuperation of research expenses drug companies are entitled to.

The email is correct in the fact that you do not need to be a member of Costco to use their pharmacy and you will pay the same price members pay. As for prices, we did not compare the prices since generic and brand-name drug prices can fluctuate with the market and geographical location due to different shipping and other costs, therefore any comparison could be outdated before it was published, which poses another question into the validity of the email in question.

As for price, yes, generic drug prices are cheaper because the developing company has to pay for the research to create he drug that the generic manufacturer does not have to. This is why new medicines and name brand drugs cost more.

Conclusion: The email is a hoax, and may be either a stealth-marketing campaign for Costco or just a fake email from a satisfied Costco pharmacy customer. In either case, the numbers listed do not matter, as people can always save money buy shopping around for prescription drugs and optioning for generic equivalents, just as people can for anything they wish to purchase.

In summary, when an email circulated with a false signature, readers should be cautious when using the information, and the email in question has too many red flags for anyone to take it seriously, but some people will, which is why the email has been circulating, thus why we are publishing our report.




http://www.boycottwatch.org/misc/costco1.htm

http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/genericrx.html

Lots of good info here. Good insight into the industry. One thing I might add is that when you buy a pharma product, don't forget that these companies are INTERNATIONAL and they make products for every living human on earth, not just the US or the UK or whatever.

There's a lot of politics and pressure on companies to provide their products to people who can't afford them in poorer countries. These products are provided free of charge or at substantial discounts. The companies also maintain a variety of discount programs for the retired and disabled in the US.

Every business unit of a company is either a profit center or a loss center and is maintained for a variety of political, financial or humanitarian reasons. Together, all of these units must generate a net profit or the company would not exist.

Granted, if the pharma companies only operated in well developed nations like the US, drug prices would probably be lower but who would stand by and say "tough" to people dying in 3rd world countries when simple drug or vaccine treatment is available through one of their products?

Is every life not of equal value?

So, to roughly sum up the costs of drug making, you can consider:

Staggering costs of R&D - billions for products that may or may not get to market.
Products that make it through the FDA certification process, make it to market but then, much later are found to have previously unknown, serious side effects.
Lawsuits for millions from a small minority of patients who suffer serious side effects. Sometimes there's a real backfire and a product harms a serious percent of patients resulting in a black box warning or the product gets pulled from the shelves which is a HUGE expense.
Political pressure to provide affordable products to everone in the world who needs them.
Voluntary humanitarian vaccine projects.
Pressure from generics.

All of these and more go into the price you pay.

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250