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Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,954
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

I talked to a man today who uses a generic cream for a skin condition - usually it's $40 a month. He went to get a 3 month supply - it was $1200 for 3 months!!!

I have read in trade magazines that companies are dropping generics, so now they are often made by only one company, who can then raise the price back up again.

Does anyone else have any examples????

Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,091
Registered: ‎01-02-2011
I don't have personal examples but I've been reading about this new scheme to gouge people :/
Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,315
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

perhaps he hit the donut hole

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,146
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

With my insurance, generics don't go up in the donut hole.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 11,126
Registered: ‎06-20-2010
Wow. That's a huge difference.
Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,278
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

I would have questioned the pharmacy about it.

Do you think maybe they made a mistake when they rung it up and added an extra zero?

3 x 40 = 120

Valued Contributor
Posts: 1,320
Registered: ‎01-31-2012

NEW YORK - Barbara Heller has an autoimmune disease called PBC. She takes the generic drug Ursodiol to prevent liver damage.

"The last refill that I got for Ursodiol cost $94.50 for three months, Heller said.

In August, she called for her usual three-month renewal, expecting her cost would still be under $100.

Instead, it was $1,212.30.

"I was upset, I didn't know what to do," she said. "I need Ursodiol every day probably for the rest of my life. Cost can't be a factor in not getting it."

Some spectacular jumps in generic drug prices have been exposed in an article in the New England Journal of Medicine. Doxycycline, an antibiotic, went from $.06 a pill to$3.36, an increase of more than 5,000 percent. Captopril, used for hypertension, increased 2,800 percent.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/generic-drug-prices-skyrocketing/

Honored Contributor
Posts: 25,929
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Well, we certainly won't get any legislation to control the big pharmacy companies from our congress going forward so hold on to your wallet.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,913
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Yep, my mail order generics took a big jump and I will leave it at that, for now.

hckynut(john)
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Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,954
Registered: ‎03-10-2010
On 11/14/2014 CelticCrafter said:

I would have questioned the pharmacy about it.

Do you think maybe they made a mistake when they rung it up and added an extra zero?

3 x 40 = 120

No, it wasn't a mistake. Several companies who had produced the generic "dropped out", leaving just one company left. That company jacked up the price, since it is now exclusive in the USA for them.

This man hadn't bothered getting insurance this year, since this cream for his skin condition was his only medication. Now he can't afford it.

He is in his 50s.