Folks,
I know that not everyone can do this. This will not apply to
every medication but it does apply to many and hopefully
sharing this will help a lot of people.
My prescription cost $276 in Virginia and $153 in Canada.
My pharmacy sells 100 of the 150 mg capsules for $276
and 100 of the 75 mg capsules for $239.
CA pharmacy sells 100 of the 150 mg capsules for $153
and 100 of the 75 mg capsules for $139.
I've found that by purchasing my own gel caps and dividing
a 150 mg capsule into two 75 mg doses, I can save quite a lot
of money. My pharmacist told me that I could divide the dose
but that he couldn't because of the patent on the medication.
Since my daily dose is 75 mg a day [with my doctors * permission,
and the* proper prescription] , I buy the 150 mg dose and divide it
in two doses [I tap one half of the medication out of the capsule
and into the clear gelcap I purchased ] and end up paying $276
for 200 doses if I buy in the US.
If I buy off the internet in Canada I can buy 100 doses for $153
and divide those capsules too ...my cost $76.50 for 100 days.
With little effort at all I can pay $ 239 x 2 = $478 for 200 capsules
or $153 for 200 capsules [a savings for me of $345 dollars] . It's worth
looking into if you don't have medication insurance and have to pay
cash.
Some "scored" tablets can save you too.
For example:
20 mg tablets often cost the same as 10 mg tablets
If your doctor prescribes 10 mg four times a day, ask
for a prescription for 20 mg tablets and snap them
in half. You can save yourself half the cost if your
tablet or pill if it is scored.
If the medication does not have a line down the middle you can not
safely use this method but you can talk with your doctor tell him that
you don't have medication insurance and ask him to work with you
and utilize this idea perhaps with a similar drug.
Asking for samples at his office and asking for generics also can
save you money.
Gail
========
Drug companies maintain "astounding" profits
BM 2002;324:1054 ( 4 May 2002 )
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/324/7345/1054/b
Pharmaceuticals again ranked as the most profitable sector in the United States,
topping the annual Fortune 500 ranking of America's top industries, released this month.
The pharmaceutical industry topped all three of Fortune magazine's measures of
profitability for 2001, making this decade the third in which the industry has been
at or near the top in all the magazine's measures of profitability.
--snip---
Overall profits of Fortune 500 companies declined by 53% in 2001, while
the top 10 US drug makers increased profits by 32% from $28bn to $37bn, according
to Public Citizen's analysis of the Fortune 500 data. Together the
10 drug companies in the list had the greatest return on revenues, reporting
a profit of 18.5 cents for every dollar of sales, eight times higher than the
median for all Fortune 500 industries, which was 2.2 cents.
Gail
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