Medical, Cost of Prescription Drugs

Cost of Prescription Drugs

Author	Message
Peggy Wagem #1 / 7	Cost of Prescription Drugs What has caused the price of prescription {filter} to skyrocket, and what can be done to lower the prices? I saw a few minutes of a show on T.V. where they were talking about prescription {filter} and the prices, a pharmaceutical company spokesman was saying it cost something like 23 million to release a drug. Any opinions? Thanks, Peggy Wageman ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peggy Wageman
Tue, 06 Dec 1994 17:38:45 GMT

Paul L. Fortman, J #2 / 7	Cost of Prescription Drugs Quote: >What has caused the price of prescription {filter} to skyrocket, and what can >be done to lower the prices? I saw a few minutes of a show on T.V. where >they were talking about prescription {filter} and the prices, a pharmaceutical >company spokesman was saying it cost something like 23 million to release a >drug. Any opinions? Thanks, Peggy Wageman Prescription {filter} are terribly expensive. My Seldane costs almost $24 for 24 tablets. That's almost $1 per tablet, and at 2 tablets per day it costs me $2 per day. At least generic pseudoephidrine hydrocloride only costs 53 cents per day. $2.53 per day, and appearantly this is cheap medication. I'd hate to see the expensive stuff, especially since I don't have any insurance. The drug companies have research and development costs to recover, but I think they are trying to recover costs too quickly (short term profit mentality). *Paul --
Wed, 07 Dec 1994 12:15:24 GMT

Mark D. Kli #3 / 7	Cost of Prescription Drugs Quote: >What has caused the price of prescription {filter} to skyrocket, and what can >be done to lower the prices? I saw a few minutes of a show on T.V. where >they were talking about prescription {filter} and the prices, a pharmaceutical >company spokesman was saying it cost something like 23 million to release a >drug. Any opinions? Thanks, Peggy Wageman As close as I can tell, there is no excuse or rational explanation for the price of prescription medications -- its "the American way", what the market will bear, the bottom line of the manufacturers, the distributers, and the retailers. People complain about the drug companies jacking up the prices -- lord knows they do -- but don't realize the friendly neighborhood pharmacist is marking up their antibiotic 100%. Retail prescription prices vary by one third or more; it really makes sense to shop around. Then there's the consumer who says to his/her doctor -- "Please write for the brand name, I've got a prescription card" -- never mind that the {filter} are equivalent but the brand is more expense -- and then gripes about the cost of his health insurance premium. Yes it costs a lot to develop new {filter} -- but the drug houses spend HUGE amounts of money marketing their products. One blockbuster drug -- a Tagamet or a Prozac -- can recoup hundreds of millions for a drug company in the space of one year. I'm no expert on health care economnics but I'd lay odds that within a few years the government will be setting drug prices, as is done in europe. The government is already beginning to do so indirectly through setting limits on what medicare will pay, some tough bargaining on the part of the VA and military, etc. I regret that I've only got opinions, rather than answers! :) -- ================================================================= suny health science center, syracuse voice: (315) 422-1050 ================= courtesy of syracuse university ================
Thu, 08 Dec 1994 02:02:35 GMT

jul.. #4 / 7	Cost of Prescription Drugs Quote: > What has caused the price of prescription {filter} to skyrocket, and what can > be done to lower the prices? I saw a few minutes of a show on T.V. where > they were talking about prescription {filter} and the prices, a pharmaceutical > company spokesman was saying it cost something like 23 million to release a > drug. Any opinions? Thanks, Peggy Wageman > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Peggy Wageman I am a research chemist at a pharmaceutical company. If I were to make a sucessful drug in my lab today, it would be on the market in about 12 years. (the time can vary) The drug must go through various testing(toxicity tests, clinical trials, metabolic studies,etc.) The cost of this is well over $300 million and... the drug could fail at any of these various levels of testing. Additional expenses are Marketing , advertising, and manufacturing. I don't know the exact cost of launching a new drug except that it is expensive. I could find out if you really want to know. I'm not defending the pharmaceutical companies. I realize that they are like any other business that wants to make a buck. They have the advantage of patent rights. I just wanted to point out that a lot of money goes into researching and developing a new drug. J.J.
Fri, 09 Dec 1994 19:52:59 GMT

R Michael Medw #5 / 7	Cost of Prescription Drugs Another element that plays into drug pricing is the fact that drug companies have only seven year patent protection on their drug. After that time generics can come in and the drug company will lose a great deal of market share and hence dollars. As someone previously pointed out, it takes about $300MM to bring a drug to market..then the company has seven years to "make hay". (This does not include so-called "orphan {filter}"..that's another discussion).
Fri, 09 Dec 1994 19:59:16 GMT

brria.. #6 / 7	Cost of Prescription Drugs Quote: > Another element that plays into drug pricing is the fact that drug companies > have only seven year patent protection on their drug. After that time > generics can come in and the drug company will lose a great deal of > market share and hence dollars. As someone previously pointed out, > it takes about $300MM to bring a drug to market..then the company > has seven years to "make hay". (This does not include so-called > "orphan {filter}"..that's another discussion). The problem here is that those prices never seem to drop, even when the patent lapses! There's also the fact that the companies use scams (like the one Roche used in Europe) to avoid paying tax on their massive profits. I turned silences and nights into words. What was unutterable, I wrote down. A Season in Hell Swans fly silently to the burning sky.
Sun, 11 Dec 1994 00:17:14 GMT

<D.. #7 / 7	Cost of Prescription Drugs (Peggy Wageman) says: Quote: >What has caused the price of prescription {filter} to skyrocket, and what can >be done to lower the prices? I saw a few minutes of a show on T.V. where >they were talking about prescription {filter} and the prices, a pharmaceutical >company spokesman was saying it cost something like 23 million to release a >drug. Any opinions? Thanks, Peggy Wageman This is a great question. If you look at the prices of medical goods and services , pharmaceutcials, until recently, were always the exception. While prices of other goods and services rose, prescription {filter} dropped. That stopped in the mid 1970s and I know several economists who are trying to figure it out. Hypotheses include regulation, litigation, increased insurance coverage, and several others. Dennis G. Shea, Penn State <<USUAL DISCLAIMER>> "I believe that there is social and psychological justification for significant inequalities of incomes and wealth....But it is not necessary....that the game should be played for such high stakes as at present." John Maynard Keynes
Sun, 11 Dec 1994 16:33:57 GMT

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