Re: Drug prices

[Guest guest]

Good lord! Who charges these prices?!?

In general, I buy only bulk OTC meds from the USA. Medical has

some pretty good deals on things like multivitamins (#1000 for $11.90)

or Acetamenophen 500mg (#1000 for $12.50). Wal-Mart isn't bad either.

Partly, this is because our medical director is UK licensed, so if we

need POM (prescription) meds we get them out of the UK from LE West

(thanks Waqar!), but even with the murderous exchange rate, meds are

generally cheaper from the UK than from the US.

Most of the antibiotics we get either locally, or in

Dubai/Istanbul/Almaty. Metronidazole 500mg IV (Gideon Richter-Hungary)

is $5. From India it is $0.70. I bought Actilase (t-PA) from a

wholesaler in Kazakhstan for about $1,200 if memory serves. About half

what it costs in UKor US..

Korean made Cipro 500mg for 20 tabs is about $3.

Narcs such as morphine/meperidine/fentanyl are impossible to source

internationally....I miss the good 'ole days when we could hit an Afghan

pharmacy and buy 10 amps of MS for $20....then progress and

civilization arrived....sigh....

Interestingly, in the former soviet union, you can pick up Adenosine

(10mg) and neostigmine at virtually any hole-in-the-wall pharmacy, for

10-20 cent an ampule.. Russian-made adenosine has to be refrigerated (I

buy it from one of the few pharmacies that keeps it in the

refrigerator!), but have used it twice now to convert a pt in SVT, and

it worked like a charm (Soviet doctors who are not cardiologists

generally have no idea that it can be used for that. I was told they

give it as an IM injection " for energy " . Ahem.). I've never heard of

neostigmine used outside of surgery/anesthesia, but I am told it is used

for abdominal spasms and is given SQ. In Russian its called

" Prozerin " . I had a patient come in with a box of it one day, and

convinced him to donate some so we would have something to reverse

vecuronium and atropine if things got out of hand...I'm one of those

people who thinks is out to get me, so I get a warm fuzzy feeling

inside by having neostigmine and tranexamic acid (for the Actilase) handy .

Jim

Tyler Cascade wrote:

>

> Here is an enlightening little list, which I cut & pasted from

> another site. I believe these are USA prices.

>

> SVT and RATE CONTROLLERS:

> Adenosine 6 mg IV ($351.40)

> Diltiazem 25 mg IV ($38.00)

> Diltiazem 100 mg for IV drip ($131.45)

> VERAPAMIL 5 mg IV ($16.20) Does Not need refrigeration either

>

> ANTIBIOTICS:

> AZITHROMYCIN 250 mg tab ($15.74)

> Azithromycin 500 mg IV ($384.54)

>

> CEFTRIAXONE1g IV ($125.10)

> Ceftriaxone 2g IV ($276.00 !)

>

> CIPROFLOXACIN 500 mg tab ($0.34)

> Ciprofloxacin 400 mg IV ($270.00)

>

> LEVOFLOXACIN 500 mg tab ($24.75)

> Levofloxacin 500 IV ($390.71 !)

>

> IV SOLUTIONS:

> Saline 1000 ml IV ($5.51)

> Saline 100 ml IV ($40.08 !)

> D5W 100 ml IV ($132.25)

> D5 1/2 NS 1000 ml IV (FREE !)

> LACTATED RINGER'S 1000 ml IV (FREE !)

>

> ANTIEMETICS:

> Odansetron 4 mg IV ($110.53 !)

> Prochlorperazine 10 mg IV ($87.85 !)

> Promethazine 25 mg IV ($27.60)

>

> Promethazine 25 mg suppository ($8.95)

> TRIMETHOBENZAMIDE 100 mg suppository ($2,80)

>

> ANALGESICS:

> Fentanyl 100 mg IV ($18.44)

> Ketorolac 30 mg IV ($23.90)

> Morphine 10 mg IV ($18.00)

> HYDROMORPHONE 2 mg IV ($16.35)

>

> ANTISEIZURE:

> epam 10 mg IV ($48.20)

> Lorazepam 2 mg IV ($30.55)

> MIDAZOLAM 2 mg IV ($15.15)

>

> MISCELLANEOUS (and all good bangs for the buck):

> Temporary dental filling mix ($4.95)

> Aspirin (any strength) ($0.20)

> Acetaminophen 325 mg tab ($0.20)

> Famotadine 20 mg tab ($0.29)

> Methadone 10 mg tab ($0.90 !)

> Penicillin 250 mg tab ($0.50)

>

> Tyler Cascade

> Paramedic, B.A., NREMT-P, CCEMT-P, FP-C

> International SOS, Basra, Iraq

> E-Mail: tcascade[at][dot]com

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi, when I first got that email on drug costs, I compared some of my prices with

AARP to Cosco, and AARP was less expensive! May not be with most of them, but

the ones I compared, it was not worth changing companies. My two cants worth !!

Bobby

Lottie Duthu <lotajam@...> wrote: Dear Margot,

I had seen that report on drug costs before and as of late, could not find my

copy, thanks for re-posting it for everyone. Not all drug stores charge you

through the wazu. My daughter in law is a manager/ accountant of a privately

owned drug store and she told me the drug companies (especially in Plan D), puts

the squeeze on the little drug stores to lower the prices to the insurance

companies, so the insurance companies can make more money. She said by the time

they put them through the wringer, their profit on generic drugs averages to

about $2. WalMart and Rite-Aid charge $4 for most of their generic drugs, so it

pays to shop around. Maybe we should be asking AARP they they didn't fight for

us by getting Congress to barter with the same drug companies, the same as the

VA does for their patients.

Hope you had a wonderful holiday. We did.

Blessings and peace,

Lottie

[Guest guest]

Hi Lottie

Hope all is going well with you, just a word on drug

prices in Canada. I have been with a drug store for a

long time and we are friends with the Manager. A few

years ago my drug bill at that store was around

$75,000 for the year. Every time I pick up some more

drugs I got a nice thank you and one air mile. Now my

insurance never complain about anything but still I

felt I should shop around this year with my new drug

dasatinib, which at my old drug store was $5,100 per

month, (I am on 100mg a day), and Exjade is around

$4,000 a month. So while shopping for food I asked

the druggest at that store how much Dasatinib would

cost, he looked it up and said it would cost my drug

plan about $4,300 a month, I was totally shocked.

The druggest also said if I switched all my drugs to

that large food chain, I would receive 1% in food

cupons, My first order I received a food ccupon for

$45,00. I felt disloyal to my old drug store, but I

am sure my drug plan will love it and we will get

around $150,00 every three months in groceries. I

write this to let us Canucks know we should shop

around. (My insureance is my old military one which I

kept when released.

Have a great day all..

Skipd

dx'ed 30++++ years ago

--- Lottie Duthu <lotajam@...> wrote:

> Dear Margot,

> I had seen that report on drug costs before and

> as of late, could not find my copy, thanks for

> re-posting it for everyone. Not all drug stores

> charge you through the wazu. My daughter in law is

> a manager/ accountant of a privately owned drug

> store and she told me the drug companies (especially

> in Plan D), puts the squeeze on the little drug

> stores to lower the prices to the insurance

> companies, so the insurance companies can make more

> money. She said by the time they put them through

> the wringer, their profit on generic drugs averages

> to about $2. WalMart and Rite-Aid charge $4 for

> most of their generic drugs, so it pays to shop

> around. Maybe we should be asking AARP they they

> didn't fight for us by getting Congress to barter

> with the same drug companies, the same as the VA

> does for their patients.

> Hope you had a wonderful holiday. We did.

> Blessings and peace,

> Lottie

>

> [Non-text portions of this message have been

> removed]

>

>