Again with the pharmaceutical shopping game...

[Jcp2]

Ok, yeah, that figures. And your Youtube makes an excellent case. I feel even better about avoiding them all on my big-ticket items.

Behind every great fortune lies a great crime.

Honore de Balzac

 

[DandyDon]

I saw my PA yesterday and we discussed my experiences shopping for this inhaler. She wrote me a new script to use with the Canadian middlemen.

It just amazes me that the same med from the same manufacturer under the same license can be $212/month or $25/month depending on where one shops.

 

[lionfish-eater]

I saw my PA yesterday and we discussed my experiences shopping for this inhaler. She wrote me a new script to use with the Canadian middlemen.

It just amazes me that the same med from the same manufacturer under the same license can be $212/month or $25/month depending on where one shops.

Look carefully at where the inhalers are made.
Not sure why the difference, wages, quality, exchange agreements, etc
Numbers made up
Great Britian $127
India 24$

 

[DandyDon]

Look carefully at where the inhalers are made.
Not sure why the difference, wages, quality, exchange agreements, etc
Numbers made up
Great Britian $127
India 24$

Oh yeah, but I learned the actual key on that in another thread. Amazing how much lifesaving meds are overpriced in the US The patents owner licenses the factory in India to make the same exact medicine for sale at various prices in various markets. Then the Canadian pharmacy opens an office (it may not be a real office, but whatever) there that buys locally at Indian wholesale prices, then ships direct to the US customer. In this case, Bayer is the manufacturer. Why it's the same thing by the same companies for less than 10% of the cost in another country is probably a complicated mix of international politics.

 

[tridacna]

My cousin is a bigwig at UHC. He tried to explain to me how they make more from kickbacks from pharmas than from drug sales. Unfortunately it was way more than my graduate degree in math allowed me to understand.

 

[DandyDon]

Buying pharmaceuticals seems to be a bigger racket than funeral sales, or at least similar. People in need are generally stressed to buy quickly, etc.

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This is the Anoro Ellipta inhaler my PA wants me to use every day. Unlike Flomax or Mobic, I cannot tell that it makes any difference, but then I have a dozen daily meds I take on faith that the medical professionals prescribing know a lot more than I do and are probably giving me good advice. So I buy and use it, as long as I can keep the costs down.

The retail price is like $212/month and up in drugstores, even with GoodRX, SingleCare, Amazon, etc and not covered by my Medicare drug plan, so I've been getting it for $28/month from a Canadian pharmacy - a middleman for overseas manufacturers skirting rules by buying in "for sale in Turkey only" packages and shipping. It's made by the same reputable manufacturers that sell many drugs to Big Pharm in the US, licensed by the patent owner, all the same except for the 90% price difference.

My PA told me about a new deal with the local drugstore that got it down to $25/month - cool!

Then it went up to $44/month!

And my old Canadian supplier now wants $85/month - what?!

So I found a new one to try at $25/month, except I got my old supplier to price match.

It's always something with medicine costs! I am getting pretty good at shopping.

Well, in the 18 months since then, the local rural clinic & rural pharmacy government price has gone from $44 to $67/month.

I still can't find any overseas prices much better than that. Maybe I can get a 3 month supply at $56. Worth a try for $11/month savings I guess altho I always feel some discomfort with these companies who do not accept credit cards.

Boehringer Ingelheim inhalers are capped at $35/month, but those inhalers seem to be different for Asthma.