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The great American pharmaceutical ripoff From: John Aravosis Hallelujah. I never thought I’d see the day that I’d praise an insurance company. But the proverbial Atlas just shrugged. Insurance company pharmacy benefit managers, who have apparently had it with drug companies charging American consumers ridiculously high, and ever-increasing, prices for prescription drugs, are starting to say “enough.” At the top of the list is my asthma drug, Advair. Some big insurance company pharmacy benefits managers are simply no longer permitting their plans to cover Advair. Or at best, they’ve relegated Advair to the lower “third tier,” which means the patient has to pay so much of the price that they simply won’t buy the drug at all. As a result, Advair sales plummeted 30% this year in the US. GlaxoSmithKline charges Americans 5x what it charges Europeans for Advair Advair’s parent company, GlaxoSmithKline, charges Americans five times the price it charges many Europeans for the same drug. Yes, five times. advairFor example, in France I bought a one month’s supply of Advair 100/50 last summer for around 38 euros, or around $52 dollars. The same drug in the states will set you back $254, and that’s at Costco. You’ll pay more elsewhere. Oh, and it gets even better. In the past few years, Advair’s parent company, GlaxoSmithKline, raised the price 30% in the US over the past few years, while they lowered the price 10% in France over the same time period. So over the past 5 years, Advair went from being 3x as expensive in the US as it is in Europe, to 5x as expensive. And before you think that France is somehow subsidizing the purchase, they’re not. France simply negotiated with GlaxoSmithKline, and the company agreed to charge the French FIVE TIMES LESS THAN IT CHARGES AMERICANS. Think about that for a moment. You’re paying five times the price for an obscenely expensive prescription drug because of your citizenship. Oh but it’s worse than that, the NYT confirms that the reason Americans are paying so much is because the drug companies want us to make up the difference for the deal they give Europeans. Many other countries control drug prices in some manner, so drug companies have become dependent on increasing prices in the United States to grow. I was pretty ticked that under the new Obamacare plans, I’d still pay far too much for my Advair. But I’ve kind of had it with companies like GlaxoSmithKline, who are basically fleecing American consumers because of our citizenship, and so that they can subsidize Europeans. I love Europe, I may even retire in Europe, but it’s hard enough for me to pay my bills each month, let alone help some guy in Paris pay his as well. Democrats and Republicans are both to blame Our entire health care system is a mess. It’s bought by and owned by huge companies, like the drug companies. And even under Obamacare, Congress refused to lift the laws that help drug companies maintain their obscene prices. For example, did you know that it’s illegal for the Medicare program to negotiate prescription drug prices with Big Pharma? Yes, they made it illegal for the United States government to practice capitalism and simply negotiate with drug companies to try to get a better deal. And sadly, Obamacare did nothing to change it. And it’s not just the Democrats’ fault — both parties are owned by Big Pharma and big healthcare. Of course, it doesn’t help when the FDA posts Big Pharma false propaganda on the FDA.gov Web site. Which brings us to another thing illegal under US law — bringing back more than a few month’s worth of drugs with you from Europe. Why? Because the FDA says that no one knows if the drugs are even safe! Yes, GlaxoSmithKline sells Advair for 1/5 the price in Paris, and if you try to bring that Advair home with you, and Customs finds it, it will be confiscated “for your own protection.” Because, apparently GlaxoSmithKline is such a dangerous company that we can’t trust the drugs they manufacture in Europe, but they’re such a great company that we can trust the drugs they manufacture in America, and pay five times the price for them! The word “obscene” doesn’t begin to describe what GlaxoSmithKline, and far too many other pharmaceutical companies, are doing to American consumers. So, while I’ve found that Advair is the drug that works best on my asthma, I’m willing to see the drug virtually banned in America. I hope GlaxoSmithKline goes down in flames. Now a word about Symbicort and AstraZeneca symbicort (1)One more thing. As you read the NYT article, don’t be fooled by the part that talks about how good GlaxoSmithKline’s competitor, AstraZeneca, is with its Advair competition drug Symbicort. And how insurance companies, and consumers, are flocking to Symbicort because it’s a more reasonably priced drug. It’s not. I’ve written about Symbicort before. They’re almost as bad as Glaxo. For example, two years ago I went to a French pharmacy to buy some Symbicort, and it cost me 54 euros, or 66 dollars at the time. Guess how much AstraZeneca was charging for Symbicort in America? $233, or 3.5x the price of what AstraZeneca charges the French. So, if American insurance companies are boycotting Advair, someone needs to ask them why they’re not boycotting Symbicort as well. Our system is a colossal mess." Before some of you lay this off to Obama care, be advised that Obama care had nothing to do with drug company rip offs. That die was cast when Part D Medicare drug coverage was instituted. I believe that occurred sometime in 2003. While that plan was supposed to be a government subsidized drug coverage program, the administration, at that time, did not set limits on what big Pharma could charge for their products. Many of you may recall seeing drug prices increase drastically during that time up to and including today. So thank the folks that were in our federal government in 2003. This turkey belongs to them. |
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Oh my goodness!!!!!
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I was told at varying times that I needed to go on a preventative plan, I did for a while but did not feel any difference except in the wallet. I stopped. I was told that I could have a 'big attack and die' etc, fear tactic. I contracted asthma when I was 5, I think about 3 times in my life I tried preventative stuff. For me it was a total waste of time and money. I will say that Flexotide helped my mother-in-law and gave her a better quality of life. For her it worked. I know my own body so I dont bother. Years ago they had an inhaler called Alupent, guess what? It worked great for an attack, they took it off the market, I also had capsules called Amesec, guess what? It worked great for an attack, they took that off the market. Ventolin hardly cuts it for me, but I get by on it. I was told coloidal silver helps for certain stuff, and I know some who swear by it, guess what? They are trying to ban it....... Judgment Day will be interesting - and all paths lead there.
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Hello Rich, I do agree with this, "They don't want to cure you they just want you to spend your money on their products ". That's true. Thanks God I still do not need any of those medicines. Have a good day! "The only way to have a friend is to be one."
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5/2/2015 10:45 am |
There are several ways to get meds from other countries. I get some on Mexico and mail order others. The second option gets a bit tricky. If the source is reputable they are on one country, process payments in another and ship from a third. The meds are frequently manufactured in a 4th country. If my experience counts for anything it is perfectly safe to do this. I have been getting meds for myself, my kids and animals this way for about 10 years with satisfactory results. The FDA and Customs do their part to support the pharmaceutical companies. The article is correct about this being an example of them down side of capitalism. Spiritwoman ^i^
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