Despicable – How Long Are We Going to Sit By and Do Nothing?
Posted: Wednesday, June 15, 2011
by Patricia Johnson
Articles and Answers.com
Following my visit with my doctor, who advised me my new pill would be ‘cheap' because the generic has been approved, the nurse gave me a brightly colored case that you can insert in your purse to hold makeup, or anything else you so desire. The case had several items enclosed, a CD explaining all about what good things this medication can do for you, a 41-page brochure, printed in color – with cutouts, an enrollment form, a brochure explaining the pharmaceutical discount card and the discount card itself along with a 30-day supply of the drug – all free.
I thought my first mistake was leaving my discount card at home, but in retrospect I found out that was a good thing.
The generic equivalent is so new [approved by the FDA June 3, 2011] the pharmacy did not even have a supply on hand and would have to special order the drug. I told the pharmacy technician that was great because it would provide me with the opportunity to get my $10.00 discount card and she explained that was great because my ‘cheap' generic had a list price of $408.00 and a co-pay price of $65.52.
The day came when the medication was ready and I promptly provided the technician with my beautifully designed "obtain your prescription for as little as $10.00" card, at which time I was advised by the young lady that the card only applied to the brand name drug. Further reading indicated the only way you could possibly have your prescription filled for $10.00 was if your co-pay was $20.00. The company will pay ½ of the cost of the prescription "up to $20.00".
The young lady at the pharmacy counter told me I was lucky, that had I brought the card in with the prescription I would have been charged more than the $65.52 I was paying, because the name brand was considerably more than the $408.00 charged for the generic.
This isn't a one- shot drug, it's a drug that I will probably have to take for a considerable length of time and I'm furious. I'm furious for two reasons, first for the manner in which this particular pharmaceutical company attempted to ‘buy' new customers with their giveaway program, and second because of the astronomical cost of this drug.
The drug isn't going to bankrupt me because there's enough wiggle room in our budget, but what about the rest of the country? What about the people out there that are struggling to get by from one day to the next wondering how they're going to afford the gas to go to work (if they're fortunate enough to have a job) or how they're going to feed their children for the rest of the week, or how they're going to pay for both the co-pay on their doctor bill and the new prescription?
When was the last time you had any medical treatment? When was the last time you paid for a prescription? Are you against "Obamacare"?
What I have observed about the people in this country that are against "Obamacare" is two things, first they do not comprehend the benefits of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) signed into law on March 23, 2010 or the contents of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, signed into law on March 30, 2010 and second, more than likely they have not had any recent major health problems.
During a recent 18-month period of time I had pretty close to $24,000.00 in co-payments. Fortunately, I have two medical insurance policies so what wasn't covered by my primary insurance was almost always covered by the secondary policy.
Do you have two policies? Can you afford to pay $24,000 in co-payments? Can you afford to pay $400.00 a month for prescriptions?
According to the Fortune 500 listing the top five pharmaceutical companies for 2010 are as follows:
1. Johnson and Johnson – with revenues of $61,897.0 (in millions of dollars).
2. Pfizer – with revenues of $50,009.0 (in millions of dollars).
3. Abbott Laboratories – with revenues of $30,764.7 (in millions of dollars).
4. Merck – with revenues of $27,428.3 (in millions of dollars).
5. Eli Lilly – with revenues of $21,836.0 (in millions of dollars).
When are the people in the U.S. going to say ‘enough is enough'? Pharmaceutical companies are granted a patent, by the patent and trademark office, on a drug for a period of twenty years. They are also entitled to exclusive marketing rights by the FDA upon approval if statutory requirements are met. During this period of time they are the only company that can sell the drug which is how we come up with astronomical costs for some drugs on the market.
Once a generic is on the market the competition is such that the price of the drug drops, over time.
It's great that pharmaceutical companies make huge profits, but the health of individuals in the United States shouldn't be determined by whether or not a person can afford a high-priced drug. Caps need to be placed on the amount these companies can charge.
© 2011 Patricia L Johnson
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