Community Chat

[cherry]

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he price of Armour Thyroid, a brand name of natural desiccated thyroid, is going up. How much more remains to be seen. But as of October 2015, the price has been skyrocketing, with a 50% increase in just the period from July through September of 2015. Interestingly, at this same time, the issue of drug company price gouging also came front and center with the news of Turing Pharmaceuticals and their astronomical price increase for a drug that treats infections in AIDS patients.

[Cakers3]

Are we talking about the cost to patients or the cost of manufacturing-or both??

Our co-pays have stayed the same for a long time.  I understand some meds are being shuffled around to other Tiers, too.

Our ins. dropped many meds this year; one was mine.  However, all my PCP had to do was fax why that brand was needed and all was approved with the same co-pay.

They also dropped all but 3 MS meds, one which can be linked to PML.  Go figure.

I feel for those who have had good success with a med only to have it dropped or jump drastically in co-pay.  Or have to switch to a different med with unknown reactions until it is taken.

Very troubling.

[Laura14]

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@cherrywrote:

snip

he price of Armour Thyroid, a brand name of natural desiccated thyroid, is going up. How much more remains to be seen. But as of October 2015, the price has been skyrocketing, with a 50% increase in just the period from July through September of 2015. Interestingly, at this same time, the issue of drug company price gouging also came front and center with the news of Turing Pharmaceuticals and their astronomical price increase for a drug that treats infections in AIDS patients.

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I believe Mr. Shkreli (founder of Turing) is now warming a nice jail cell for that stunt.

I feel for you with thyroid meds.  There are generics available but usually they are not interchangeable and you don't have the option to take it. 

If NYC can do rent control for decades, the FDA can do thyroid med cost control.  Absolutely.      

[cherry]

Armour is the only one I can take, the others make me very ill

[Trinity11]

Synthroid, which is used to treat hypothyroidism, is the most commonly prescribed medication in the United States and has been on the market for more than 60 years. In just the past six years, it has nearly doubled in price, according to the Center’s analysis. The generic version of Synthroid, levothyroxine, has gone from 14 cents to 46 cents per pill, an increase of 231 percent between 2011 and 2016, the analysis shows.

A single two-week dose for Humira, a medication that treats conditions including rheumatoid arthritis, plaque psoriasis and Crohn’s disease, has increased 129 percent since 2011, to $2,000. Price increases have made Humira and other anti-inflammatory drugs among the most costly in the country, according to insurers.

[cherry]

Armour is a very old drug. It is the oldest thyroid drug ,so it can't be they have a big overhead on research

[Laura14]

I give up.  I can't even find a list of just the most common brand name drugs which this report claims it looked at the top 20 for Medicare.  Love to know where they found it since Google couldn't.  This is why I don't trust the media anymore. How can you report on something if you can't actually read it?

If you are curious about the top 100 drugs for 2018, here is the list just released last month from a legitimate pharmacy database.  They rank them every year.  Generics are the most popular since most prescribed drugs are generic options. 

http://clincalc.com/DrugStats/

[151949]

@cherry This doesn't surprise me at all.However, the fix for this is up to our government and I think most Americans will agree that our government appears to be broken & useless.

[Trinity11]

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@Laura14wrote:

That was my point @Trinity11.  I want to know what drugs we are talking about which I am still looking for and shouldn't have to if a real journalist wrote this piece.   

I just want to be sure the article is honest and supports exactly what you just brought up.

Because I can tell you that one of the drugs highlighted (NitroStat) most definitely has a generic as do most cholesterol medications which were also mentioned but only as a class.  No specifics and I want them!  

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What about Repatha? It costs me $1200.00 a month to fill that prescription. I have hereditary high cholesterol and Lipitor does not really work for me.

Surely, there are other posters here who have similar high deductibles and drugs that insurance will not cover.

The article is honest. Hard to read isn't it @Laura14???

[WenGirl42]

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@Laura14wrote:

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@cherrywrote:

snip

he price of Armour Thyroid, a brand name of natural desiccated thyroid, is going up. How much more remains to be seen. But as of October 2015, the price has been skyrocketing, with a 50% increase in just the period from July through September of 2015. Interestingly, at this same time, the issue of drug company price gouging also came front and center with the news of Turing Pharmaceuticals and their astronomical price increase for a drug that treats infections in AIDS patients.

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I believe Mr. Shkreli (founder of Turing) is now warming a nice jail cell for that stunt.

I feel for you with thyroid meds.  There are generics available but usually they are not interchangeable and you don't have the option to take it. 

If NYC can do rent control for decades, the FDA can do thyroid med cost control.  Absolutely.      

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No.  Shkreli is serving time for securities fraud.  The courts were fine with him skrewing AIDS patients, but not wall street investors.