High cost of drugs in America?

[Tufbusa]

Insider's Rx For Drug Costs - CBS News

I stumbled across this episode of 60 minutes on the "High Cost of Drugs in America" and found it interesting as well as troubling. It's only about 3 minutes long and well worth watching. Why do we Americans pay so much more for the same drug manufactured at the same facility that other countries pay so little for?

Watch and form your own opinion.

 

[skydivr]

Pharmaceutical company lobbyists...

 

[cheferman65]

1 cause we can afford it,
2 most don't question and just follow like sheep,
3 Corporate/Government GREED


the late Lou Reed said it well,
Give me your hungry, your tired, your poor I'll piss on 'em
That's what the Statue of Bigotry says
Your poor huddled masses
Let's club 'em to death
And get it over with and just dump 'em on the boulevard

 

[GNBRETT]

whats even more sad is we have more ppl dyeing from overdoses these days then we do car accidents....

 

[RedBusarider]

Why do we Americans pay so much more for the same drug manufactured at the same facility that other countries pay so little for?


Because the drug companies are greedy and know they can get away with it - overcharging.

What are we to do? Many people can't just stop taking a drug to protest against high prices.
We also know the risks of buying drugs (prescriptions) online as you can get ripped off doing that.
Driving or flying to another country is not economical enough to off set the costs.
So they really have us over a barrel and what are we to do?

Why does an aspirin cost $10 in a hospital when we can buy a bottle for a dollar or two. GREED

Is there any other answer? Do you think they would allow you to bring in your own? How would they make any money that way?

Yes it is a rip off. I guess that's the price we have to pay to live in the greatest country on earth, the USA!

 

[RedBusarider]

whats even more sad is we have more ppl dyeing from overdoses these days then we do car accidents....

That may be true - HOWEVER not all those overdoses are from legal drugs.
Also because parents don't lock up there prescriptions sometimes they get into the hands of the children in the house and
then they take them to a party and mix them with other drugs and alcohol - and guess what - it sometimes kills them.

That and cars have seat belts and airbags so hopefully they are safer than they were 30 years ago.

One more thing is, being drunk is really overdosing on alcohol, so if you count drunk driver deaths and/or the people they killed,
then I'm sure the above quote would be true. But then you can't really count them twice saying - an overdose and a car accident, right?

 

[Tufbusa]

Why do we Americans pay so much more for the same drug manufactured at the same facility that other countries pay so little for?


Because the drug companies are greedy and know they can get away with it - overcharging.

What are we to do? Many people can't just stop taking a drug to protest against high prices.
We also know the risks of buying drugs (prescriptions) online as you can get ripped off doing that.
Driving or flying to another country is not economical enough to off set the costs.
So they really have us over a barrel and what are we to do?

Why does an aspirin cost $10 in a hospital when we can buy a bottle for a dollar or two. GREED

Is there any other answer? Do you think they would allow you to bring in your own? How would they make any money that way?

Yes it is a rip off. I guess that's the price we have to pay to live in the greatest country on earth, the USA!

Our president answered your question when he said: "Elections have consequences"!

The only way we can get drug costs under control is through elections. Only when the masses demand it will the politicians move away from the drug company's feeding trough and look out for the voters who put them into that powerful position. We would be wise to contact anyone and everyone in our local districts who is running for public office and voice our concerns over the price of drugs. Only when we as voters put pressure on our leaders in congress will this legalized thievery be controlled. JMO!

 

[GNBRETT]

not all but most of em are from illegal drugs. sure, plenty of ppl OD on pain pills but their possession of them is still illegal for many. just because there is a legal use for a drug doesn't make it a legal drug to possess or use. Cocaine is used all the time in hospitals for legal usage but its also used illegally on the street just as prescription pills are.

sure plenty of ppl OD and have prescription drugs prescribed to them but they seek out more cause their tolerance increases and they now need more to get high.

so therefore even those who get them legally actually possess them illegally cause they posses and use more then they are prescribed. what they are prescribed is maybe 20% of what they need. unless u have one of those drug dealing doctors and there are plenty of them out there to.

there are far more accidents these days cause there are far more ppl on the road so having better safety equipment may make them safer but the number of fatal accidents really hasn't changed that much in the last 30 years. it goes up and down from year to year and decade to decade.

That may be true - HOWEVER not all those overdoses are from legal drugs.
Also because parents don't lock up there prescriptions sometimes they get into the hands of the children in the house and
then they take them to a party and mix them with other drugs and alcohol - and guess what - it sometimes kills them.

That and cars have seat belts and airbags so hopefully they are safer than they were 30 years ago.

One more thing is, being drunk is really overdosing on alcohol, so if you count drunk driver deaths and/or the people they killed,
then I'm sure the above quote would be true. But then you can't really count them twice saying - an overdose and a car accident, right?

 

[TallTom]

I totally agree, it is outrageous and I have had some fairly long discussions about this with a nurse friend. She is chief of nursing so her time gets spent on the bottom line aspects of healthcare. She rarely sees patients. They have their valid perspective as well.

Her take on it is this: For every uninsured or under insured patient that enters into the healthcare system (and yes ObamaCare has opened the floodgates to this), that hospital by law has to administer care to them. They had to do this before the AHCA was passed but the rules have changed even more now. A hospital, just like any commercial venture is for profit. If they don't make profit, they go out of business. Plain and simple.

To further aggravate this, ObamaCare has added to the expense of rendering healthcare. She will tell you that a patient that is on ObamaCare has a file of paperwork thicker than those that do not. More red tape means more time spent with people filling it out. So what it boils down to, is they have to get it from somewhere. Insurance companies and Affordable health care are driving down the price that they can charge for many things. That was the intent and sole purpose of the Affordable HealthCare Act. To which no one in the healthcare field can do much about.

But the cost of running that hospital has not changed and is not going down in price. The government isn't offering subsidies to them to make up for the losses The idea that you make up for the lower cost by taking on more volume isn't aiding the hospitals. They often have no beds available for well insured patients, because the under-insured patients are taking up all the available space, and the hospitals, by law have to render care per the new guidelines of the AFHCA. They are in a catch 22.

Yes it is totally ridiculous that you pay $10 for an aspirin. Or $30 for a Band-Aid. Reminiscent of the story of the $600 hammer that we pay when it has a government use attached to it.

But if you are insured, 80% of that cost is passed on the to the insurance carrier. None of us like it and nobody disagrees that it's not fair. But if hospitals can't make a profit, you end up with less spaces for patients and the cascade effect is easy to figure out in the end.

As an example as to how they address it. In her hospital which is a BIG one here, they have 19 surgical suites. Anything less than 75 procedures in a day is an unprofitable day for that hospital. Surgeries are the economic engine for a hospital. Her job is to make sure they are set up to do 75 procedures a day. Staff, supplies, beds etc. And if you don't have 75 beds for them to recover in, you can't do the 75 procedures. And if the beds are filled with charity healthcare, you have the under-insured putting more pressure on the economic engine that is supposed to make up for them.

So for an outsider like me, I think 75 surgeries a day is like an assembly line. Her answer.....yep it sure is. But they have adapted to the new world. They have now cut down on waiting room area space, to add beds. Done away with large kitchens, in favor of outside catering or short order small space prep areas, to add more beds. It is a rat race for healthcare workers now.

 

[RedBusarider]

not all but most of em are from illegal drugs. sure, plenty of ppl OD on pain pills but their possession of them is still illegal for many. just because there is a legal use for a drug doesn't make it a legal drug to possess or use. Cocaine is used all the time in hospitals for legal usage but its also used illegally on the street just as prescription pills are.

sure plenty of ppl OD and have prescription drugs prescribed to them but they seek out more cause their tolerance increases and they now need more to get high.

so therefore even those who get them legally actually possess them illegally cause they posses and use more then they are prescribed. what they are prescribed is maybe 20% of what they need. unless u have one of those drug dealing doctors and there are plenty of them out there to.

there are far more accidents these days cause there are far more ppl on the road so having better safety equipment may make them safer but the number of fatal accidents really hasn't changed that much in the last 30 years. it goes up and down from year to year and decade to decade.

While I agree with most of what you said - I Don't believe that Cocaine is used ALL the time in hospitals.
I'm not saying it never is- just that you are miss-informed if you truly believe that it is used ALL the time.

I have been checking that out and found this -

Cocaine itself is always used as a local anesthetic for certain
specialized kinds of nose and throat surgery. That is its only legal
use.

With all the drugs that they have available I'm pretty sure that they could find something else to use.

Other than that I think I agree with what you said.

Now this begs the question - IF DRUGS WERE CHEAPER - WOULD THERE BE EVEN MORE OD'S AND ABUSE OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS? Then there is now?

 

[Blrry]

Cocaine is rarely used now in the 4 hospital and 2 surgery centers I've administered anesthesia in over the last 8 years (residency and moonlighting). I've seen it used once in the OR (surgeon was "showing off" to a resident that he could order it, he otherwise never used it) and once in an ER (epistaxis), to be exact, and it's only 4%, not enough to get anyone high. Side effect profile is too bad, when there are safer alternatives like lidocaine with epinephrine or phenylephrine or oxymetazoline HCl. Just to maybe clarify that point.

 

[GNBRETT]

they use cocaine to restrict blood vessels too during surgery to lessen the bleeding. cocaine is also used often to numb the lining of the mouth or throat for surgeries and biopsies. LOTS of medical use for cocaine. not miss-informed at all. uncle is an APRN and we have discussed this in detail and the different uses of cocaine and this was at Yale.

ill bet its used every day in some hospital. that might not be all the time but often.

but once again coke, heroin etc... don't even scratch the surface of the devastation alcohol does and its perfectly legal.

While I agree with most of what you said - I Don't believe that Cocaine is used ALL the time in hospitals.
I'm not saying it never is- just that you are miss-informed if you truly believe that it is used ALL the time.

I have been checking that out and found this -

Cocaine itself is always used as a local anesthetic for certain
specialized kinds of nose and throat surgery. That is its only legal
use.

With all the drugs that they have available I'm pretty sure that they could find something else to use.

Other than that I think I agree with what you said.

Now this begs the question - IF DRUGS WERE CHEAPER - WOULD THERE BE EVEN MORE OD'S AND ABUSE OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS? Then there is now?

 

[jellyrug]

No medication here ever, so it does not affect me. Cannot even remember when last I had a cold, or flu.

My secret drug sits next to the Busa.

 

[fallenarch]

So what if a cager obstructs the forward progress of that bike?

 

[GNBRETT]

wow wat kinda of rims r those on the bike? badass!

No medication here ever, so it does not affect me. Cannot even remember when last I had a cold, or flu.

My secret drug sits next to the Busa.

 

[MelodicMetalGod]

No simple answer. But the one simple aspect is that corporate anything is about generating the maximum profit. In and of itself, profit isn't necessarily a bad thing. That's all well and good when it comes to luxury items and disposable income. However, when it comes to needed services and products (healthcare, food, etc), consider the enemies of profit:

Staff/payroll - the less, the better.
Good Wages/Benefits - Bad for profit, plain and simple. BTW, I hear there are jobs available in China.
High Quality - quality costs more to produce than low quality, so low quality = better profit until the quality is so low that demand drops.
Low Price - Low prices bring less profit - you do the math.

We all want good paying jobs but none of us wants to pay more the lowest possible price on anything. Is it any surprise that more and more goods and services are affordable for fewer and fewer people?

PS: Someone commented that one of the reasons that we pay more is because we can afford it. Well, the cancer fighting drugs in question in the 60 Minute show that I caught last evening were priced on the order of $2000 to $4000 a month! I'm guessing that we can all agree that is beyond the "we can afford it" level of the average family here in the US.

 

[red1100cc]

I have insurance and still cant afford to go to the doctor or hospital unless im puking blood or have a bone sticking through the skin. I fell of a 6' fence last week and separated and possibly cracked a few ribs. I could not afford the x-rays and possible other procedures (I was lookin at about $10k) in order to tell me there is nothing they can do for ribs. pay the drug dealer for something better than aspirin and be sent on my way. my deductible is over 2 grand. My family cant afford that. so I sit here suffering. eating advil and ibuprofen. watching StarTrek and playing on the ORG.

unless im dying, im saving my money for gas.

my wife and son are a totally different story. i'll take them in to the hospital in a heartbeat!

I blame politicians that get bought and paid by drug companies. big business means big money. money corrupts. and now that is legal to be bought and sold like a commodity, I don't see it ever changing.
if I ever get cancer or anything else, I am going to have to move to Canada, because the American hospitals will kill me or let me die.

 

[RedBusarider]

I have insurance and still cant afford to go to the doctor or hospital unless im puking blood or have a bone sticking through the skin. I fell of a 6' fence last week and separated and possibly cracked a few ribs. I could not afford the x-rays and possible other procedures (I was lookin at about $10k) in order to tell me there is nothing they can do for ribs. pay the drug dealer for something better than aspirin and be sent on my way. my deductible is over 2 grand. My family cant afford that. so I sit here suffering. eating advil and ibuprofen. watching StarTrek and playing on the ORG.

unless im dying, im saving my money for gas.

my wife and son are a totally different story. i'll take them in to the hospital in a heartbeat!

I blame politicians that get bought and paid by drug companies. big business means big money. money corrupts. and now that is legal to be bought and sold like a commodity, I don't see it ever changing.
if I ever get cancer or anything else, I am going to have to move to Canada, because the American hospitals will kill me or let me die.

Go to Mexico - become a Mexican citizen then sneak back to the US and you will be covered 100%.

 

[jellyrug]

I have insurance and still cant afford to go to the doctor or hospital unless im puking blood or have a bone sticking through the skin. I fell of a 6' fence last week and separated and possibly cracked a few ribs. I could not afford the x-rays and possible other procedures (I was lookin at about $10k) in order to tell me there is nothing they can do for ribs. pay the drug dealer for something better than aspirin and be sent on my way. my deductible is over 2 grand. My family cant afford that. so I sit here suffering. eating advil and ibuprofen. watching StarTrek and playing on the ORG.

unless im dying, im saving my money for gas.

my wife and son are a totally different story. i'll take them in to the hospital in a heartbeat!

I blame politicians that get bought and paid by drug companies. big business means big money. money corrupts. and now that is legal to be bought and sold like a commodity, I don't see it ever changing.
if I ever get cancer or anything else, I am going to have to move to Canada, because the American hospitals will kill me or let me die.

In our County there is a free care clinic for those who cannot afford proper care. To qualify, the patient has to live in the county, with according tax records and depending on family size be under a certain income level. For example, a family of four with an income below $55,000 per year would qualify. My wife volunteers there as a nurse, there are some Federal grants and they raise funds with a number of community programs.

Explore other options in your area.

 

[red1100cc]

sitting right in the gap where we make too much for one and not enough for the other.
ive been bounced enough to know im okish. didn't need to pay to find out what I already know.


sneak into Mexico. that's funny. I wonder if anyone has ever done that scenario?
I tell ya what. if I was close, id go get me some Tylenol 3 or something. I like how their pharmacies run down there. my $86 inhaler, costs $4 in Mexico.