An Irish pharmaceutical company (Horizon Pharma) is in the news today because they are charging customers in the US $3000 for a drug whose combined ingredients, ibuprofen and a buffering drug would only be $36 if purchased separately. I only have a dog in this fight because the Irish company defended their charges by saying that no one pays that price, they all charge it to insurance.
Well, duh, that means everyone pays the price not no one pays the price. I take an asthma medicine that has been out of patent for several years but the FDA still hasn't approved a generic because the claim is that the generic doesn't provide the same dosage. This medicine has gotten more and more expensive as I have been taking it so that now it is approximately $500 a month even though it is no longer under patent. Of course when it becomes generic the current model would be to then charge $4000 a month, destroying the notion of generic drugs entirely.
What recourse do we have? Well, AARP started because one old woman was angry about how she was treated. We do have a voice.
My insurance doesn't even cover Symbicort at all now-I have to take Advair at $40 /month but it doesn't work as well. I am at their mercy.
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