Drug price fixing - profiteering

S

Son_of_Perdition

Senior Member
This post should be included in my 'I've got to get a life' category. After I hit the donut hole last year, I queried my 'Advantage' plan provider to get the low down. Learned more than I needed. It brought up an interesting theory I now have. I spend my winters surfing the web & watching too much TV. I have become more aware of medications now I've developed maladies that need drugs.

We all see the ads for new various drugs being pushed by the makers of them. Out of idle curiosity I started doing searches on them. It didn't matter whether it was for my issue or not I was not being selective. One blaring point stuck out, it seems each and everyone of the them have a retail cost of between $300 - $400 for a 30 day supply. How is it that all of them are priced within those ranges then I realized that the donut hole starts north of $3,000 & if you only use one drug and make your co-pay you will be charged somewhere in the range of $3,500 - $4,500 including the co-pay the provider pays.

My way of thinking is the manufacturers & insurance providers are gouging the government, getting your co-pays & reimbursements from Medicare & making a bundle. I'm sure they're in bed with each other getting rebates, kickbacks or reduced prices for the drugs. I just can't believe that all new drugs including R&D, marketing, distribution costs,,,etc come out to the same general cost ($300-$400) for a month's supply. It galls me to think that number 1 the government allows it & 2 that the players are engaging in the practice. I know there's laws against price fixing & profiteering or should be.
 

I agree with you, if this is happening, and it seems to be, they need to be stopped, it's ridiculous that they make a killing and the people have to pay for it. I hear of folks getting their drugs from Canada and Mexico, but reasonably priced medications should be available right here in the United States. I also hate the TV ads pushing prescription drugs, recently signed a petition to put a stop to them too.
 
Then it has to cover the sales people who direct target doctors to promote this years new prescriptions. I think there should be a law against print ads too. I can't remember the brand but there's an RA medicine with double page ads in every magazine. Huge marketing campaign. But one of those drugs that by the second paragraph...Can lower your immune system, cause liver damage, bleeding episodes have been reported, side effects include rare forms of cancer or sudden death...Tell your doctor right away if you have any problems managing these symptoms.

BUT you can move so much easier!!!!!
 

Son_of_Perdition said:
This post should be included in my 'I've got to get a life' category. After I hit the donut hole last year, I queried my 'Advantage' plan provider to get the low down. Learned more than I needed. It brought up an interesting theory I now have. I spend my winters surfing the web & watching too much TV. I have become more aware of medications now I've developed maladies that need drugs.

We all see the ads for new various drugs being pushed by the makers of them. Out of idle curiosity I started doing searches on them. It didn't matter whether it was for my issue or not I was not being selective. One blaring point stuck out, it seems each and everyone of the them have a retail cost of between $300 - $400 for a 30 day supply. How is it that all of them are priced within those ranges then I realized that the donut hole starts north of $3,000 & if you only use one drug and make your co-pay you will be charged somewhere in the range of $3,500 - $4,500 including the co-pay the provider pays.

My way of thinking is the manufacturers & insurance providers are gouging the government, getting your co-pays & reimbursements from Medicare & making a bundle. I'm sure they're in bed with each other getting rebates, kickbacks or reduced prices for the drugs. I just can't believe that all new drugs including R&D, marketing, distribution costs,,,etc come out to the same general cost ($300-$400) for a month's supply. It galls me to think that number 1 the government allows it & 2 that the players are engaging in the practice. I know there's laws against price fixing & profiteering or should be.
Click to expand...

Yup...just another example....among many...on how our Health Care system is ripping off the people. One thing that makes drugs so expensive here is the constant bombardment of "Ask your Doctor" ads on TV. These drug companies pay millions of dollars a month for this constant bombardment of Propaganda...and the people who get sucked into taking these drugs ultimately get to pay for those TV ads. Then, too, the drug companies have to set aside billions of dollars to pay for the Class Action lawsuits and lawyers when their "Wonder Drug" starts killing people after 5 or 10 years....so that, too, is factored into the cost of these drugs. Many of our doctors are also to blame, as they receive substantial "perks" from the drug companies based upon the number of prescriptions written. Opensecrets.org has had an ongoing investigation into that issue, for years...you can look up your doctor and see if he is on the "take".

The latest thing in these ads that cracks me up is the caution "don't take this drug if you are allergic to it". Well, how the Hell is a person to know if they are allergic to this poison until they try it?
 
I believe Medicare should be allowed to negotiate for better drug prices for its beneficiaries, but it is not allowed to do so. The pharmaceutical companies can charge whatever they want.

I really don't believe most doctors get any kind of kickbacks from the pharmaceutical companies -- the huge costs are price gouging by the companies.

I also believe print and TV advertising of pharmaceuticals should be outlawed. At best, they are misleading to the public.
 
Butterfly said:
I believe Medicare should be allowed to negotiate for better drug prices for its beneficiaries, but it is not allowed to do so. The pharmaceutical companies can charge whatever they want.

I really don't believe most doctors get any kind of kickbacks from the pharmaceutical companies -- the huge costs are price gouging by the companies.

I also believe print and TV advertising of pharmaceuticals should be outlawed. At best, they are misleading to the public.
Click to expand...

Having worked in offices and hospitals all my working life, I must tell you that most doctors DO get kickbacks from Big Pharma. If not direct kickbacks having to do with how many scripts they write for the drug, then it's the prepaid "conferences" -- read that: vacations -- in the Bahamas or Australia or Thailand, etc. And there are lots of perqs for even writing "x" number of scripts.

And yes, even years ago some of the docs I worked for wanted government to provide health insurance and negotiate drug prices. "Some" of the docs I worked for.

 
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