I took Adam to the doctor today as he has a cold, had bilateral ear pain and a terrible sore throat. During the visit, there was discussion that he most likely has allergies and would probably benefit from a steroid type nasal spray and something like Claritin or Allegra. We had gotten some OTC Claritin-D a few weeks ago which cost close to $10 for only ten pills. So I asked the doc if he could prescribe a generic similar to the OTC Claritin that would give us a month's supply and hopefully cost less. He prescribed the generic of Allegra and gave him a 30 day supply. In addition to that, he wrote out a script for Flonase and Amoxicillin. When I went to pick up the meds, the bill was $86. I didn't pay attention to what each cost, assuming the $86 was a combination of the three meds. I pulled away from the drive thru and Adam noticed that there was a stickie on the Allegra info saying that the med required prior auth. I asked him to look at the receipt, expecting that the Amoxicillin was probably dirt cheap and the other two were responsible for most of the cost. It turned out that the generic of Allegra cost $80 and the other two meds combined cost $6!
So now instead of the OTC which would have cost about $30 for a month's supply, I have this generic prescription that cost close to three times that! Plus I have a husband who is annoyed with me! This whole experience has allowed me to appreciate our patients more and their unwillingness +/or inability to pay the cost of some of their meds.
I have to wonder if the drug companies stopped paying for meals for physicians and office staff, and quit supplying every office with samples, if the cost of medications for patients would be a little more reasonable.
5 comments:
I kinda doubt it-I think they are in it to make as much $ as they can. If they reduced their costs it would probably just go towards bonuses for the bosses. That seems to be the way things are going lately, I wish corporations would realize that treating their employees and customers better would be better for them also.
man do i agree michele. we see how much money they shell out for stickies and pens and all the schmoozing dinners for the physicians. and lets not mention all the doctors who use the samples!!!!!!! i mean who can afford their meds if not an insured phsician! but i also agree steph that the money would go somewhere. what a huge mess!
I had the opportunity this past month to go to three dinners at The Blue (at the Candlelight Inn) that were sponsored by drug companies. There can be up to 50 people at each of these dinners. A meal at The Blue easily costs upwards of $60-70 per person. For those three meals that is about $10,000! Add up all the rest of the practices in the Lehigh Valley, then statewide, then nationwide....get the point?!?!!? It's nuts! Then we have a closet full of sample medications in our office. It's not unusual for drug reps to give us meds that we don't necessarily use that often. We then end up throwing them all away when they expire. You wouldn't believe the amount of medication we waste. Then again, we are just one office...think of all the offices nationwide that may be in a similar situation as we are!
I'd rather give up the dinners (although I love a free meal...LOL!) and skip the samples and maybe make medications a little more affordable for the public. I do agree, though, that I'm not sure the public would see the savings!
Hi Michele, I'm Sue, Steph's mother-in-law and John's foster mom.
I'm thankful for my family doctor because he helps me with samples. I can't afford 4 perscriptions that I take regularly, so he has me see him every 2 months. I rather pay my $20.00 co-pay, than what the perscription total would be.
I feel for you.
Well, I think...lol...first of all that those dinners are bribes and the bribing starts in med school from what I read. Think about it--how many doctors will talk nutrition before they talk meds? I am more sensitive to this because of having a heart attack in 2005, and my husband is diabetic. Everyone wants to put you on cholesterol medication when they proved beyond a shadow of a doubt already that diet can not only reverse and heal a heart condition, but that those cholesterol meds are then totally unnecessary. Uh oh, you have brought up a dangerous subject......
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