For me, i was shocked a bottle of 5 mg prednisone, was the same price, at my vetenarians, for my dog, as my prescriptions co/pay..I also inquired what was the price of Tramadol, for my dog that has arthitis.....cheaper that what i pay..with prescription coverage..So there is a lot of profit on the Pharma end, making it the most profitable industry in the USA.

I know we do a lot of research here, but for these cheaper, older pills, someone is still making some big bucks

On the Stop the Tantrums, article, the last one..he mentions the 92 yr old stepdad, with altzeimer, and had colon cancer, compared to the 32 yr old, with no insurance, who died because he had no insurance, and couldnt afford a colonoscopy. So, there are also some good points there too.

Pat, I tried to open the first link and couldn’t so I went to Courier Press.com and searched for profiteers and got too many hits, none on the first page seemed to be appropriate.  Then I searched for Profiteers spreading misinformation and got no hits.  Then I searched for stop tantrums and got 7 hits but nothing that seemed recent or appropriate.

My problem with most articles being cited is that they deal with so many things that I don’t know what the real interest is.  It’s like a shotgun blast and either having to account for each pellet or risk missing the thing of real interest.  I would much prefer to deal with a distinct and limited number of items rather than a shotgun blast.  I took things you wrote and gave my views on some of them.  If I missed anything that is of particular interest to you, let me know. 

I haven’t worked in a hospital but I have worked on government contracts.  They pick certain things to control and we adjust our billings to get the money we want and also supply them with the information they want.  We prefer to charge the projects directly for the scientist and technicians working on the project but pay for management and clerical help as overhead.  The government said we paid too much for overhead so we had all people working for the project in any way charge directly to the project.  This brought down the overhead costs but increased the total cost to the government because of the extra bookkeeping.  I think a similar effect holds true for hospitals.  Some auditors object to certain costs so the hospital lumps those costs in with other costs to satisfy the auditors and the cost for medications might include a lot of other costs but the amount of bookkeeping to identify each component of cost would be prohibitive.  The hospitals have to get adequate payment for their services or they will go out of business.  How these are itemized depend on what the auditors will allow and too much itemization will only increase costs.  I’m not sure this is the cause of the high costs of medicines but it is one possible explanation.

I’m not sure the medications you get at the veterinarian are really the same as the ones you get from the pharmacy.  There may be different quality control standards and government inspections.  I don’t know what data makes you think Pharma is the most profitable industry in the USA but I would like to see the data if you make the claim.

There is a lot of competition for the older pills and with all the oversight and testing for US sales the costs are high.  I think a lot less quality control goes into things for overseas markets but I’m not sure.  Anyway profits from the old drugs is one source of funding for developing new drugs, and more funding comes from the profits from exclusive marketing of new drugs for a limited time.  I don’t see any facts about drug costs but only complaints.

Regarding insurance companies, I do agree that some of the excuses to drop people from the rolls are immoral and should be illegal.  It is up to the government to make them illegal and the government has not done that.  This is a failure of the government and that is the same government that will be in full charge with the government option.  The insurance companies will go to the full extent allowed by law to avoid paying a claim so we do need laws to define what is and is not permissible.

If all insurance policies must include pre-existing conditions some people will get the cheapest possible policy or even no policy till they see an expensive medical condition coming up and then get the policy with the best coverage.  After treatment they will go back to the cheapest policy.  It sounds good but I don’t see how it will work in practice.  The prudent way to remain insured is to get a private or social group policy instead of one through your employment so there is no danger of dropping insurance if you change employment.  This is more expensive till you need coverage but then it is the best thing for you.  God bless.

Age 82, diagnosed RA 12/2001, married since 1952, 4 sons no daughters, 4 grandsons 1 granddaughter.  Doing well on Methotrexate and Remicade.

Here is an article, about human meds prices vs animal meds prices, GPV

I am certain it is the same 5mg prednisone, that is sold to me, 100 pills, and a $10 co/pay with insurance.  I asked at the vetenarians how much the same bottle would cost, and they said $10.  They do have a tech dispensing meds, also.

If i would have gotten a 90 day supply of prednisone,(Caremark-mail in) It  would have been cheaper, but i am trying to taper off a low dose of prednisone.

Also, i see that Walmart, now has the same free mail in service, as my Caremark/CVS mail order plan, 90 day supply of 5 mg. Prednisone, for $10..without using insurance.

I already checked Walmarts list, Tramadol is not a $4 script, but again, i have shown the bottle, that i have, to the vetenarian, she said same pill, they use!.

Since it doesn't help me, she said by all means give it to the Labrador, if he needs it.  Next time i will ask them, what they charge for that one.  

 



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Methotrexate 15 yrs, Enbrel 3 yrs, Humira 5 yrs, Rituxan 1 yr, now diagnosed with PSA and RA, back to Enbrel 50mg.x2 a week