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Listening to NPR today, found out that some critical care injectable drugs are in very short supply. These are the expensive super new drugs, they are the old stand bys. Why? No profit.Some suppliers quit production, others just ignore maintaince issues untill the production stops.That should read not new super drugs.No one wants to invfest money in generic drug manufacture.
I took my wife to the ER last week for a migraine headache and nausea, and the doc wanted to give her Compazine, but couldn't. Turned out there's a nationwide shortage.
[QUOTE=kygorski;468192]Listening to NPR today, found out that some critical care injectable drugs are in very short supply. These are the expensive super new drugs, they are the old stand bys. Why? No profit.[/QUOTE]
I wonder if that's NO profit or just not the kind of profit the drug companies like seeing? Medicine has seemed to me to be ridiculously sky high for a very VERY long time. Not that I take any worth talking about, but I've seen what my parents have had to pay over the years. All I can say is Lord help us all when we get ill or a little older.
[QUOTE=RoadToad;468196]I took my wife to the ER last week for a migraine headache and nausea, and the doc wanted to give her Compazine, but couldn't. Turned out there's a nationwide shortage.[/QUOTE]
So sorry to hear that Road Toad, your poor wife. I hope they were able to give her something for the pain. I suffered for years with severe migraines and the only thing that worked for me was Imitrex. It was like a miracle cure and it always works. |I finally got rid of them by not working shift work and getting out of Corrections. My sympathies go to anyone dealing with them. I hope she is feeling better. I would strongly encourage her to talk to her doctor about Imitrex.
This is a sticky situation. We cant force companys to make drugs that not profitable,and then if we subsidise certain firms to make them, it will be deemed government interference.This is a situation where were damned if we take that action, and the same applies if we dont.This started to happen in 2006, when they started to look at drug production costs, and drug profit margins.Certain injectable drugs that cost a few bucks to make, were marketed at 50 to 100% mark up.When measures were taken to reign in medicare costs, limits were put into place. Then the drug company lobby, started to work on stopping imports of some of these cheaper drugs.So we have our death panels already working.Flat line, and bottom line are not the same thing.
[QUOTE=RoadToad;468196]I took my wife to the ER last week for a migraine headache and nausea, and the doc wanted to give her Compazine, but couldn't. Turned out there's a nationwide shortage.[/QUOTE]
I don't know why, but it seems that when i get my migraines, if i make myself throw up and then lie down that ease's the pain...
The wife suffer's from them really bad, and i do mean bad..the veins in her head swell up so big, you'd think they were gonna explode. Er Soc's always give here a shot of Phenegen (sp) and dimerall combined and she can then sleep it off.
I should give the rest of the story. They gave her Dilaudid for the headache, which got it down to where she could function, and the Compazine was going to be for the nausea associated with that. With that unavailable, she got the old reliable Phenergan, which she's taken before with success, and that worked. She's also had a CT scan and MRI, and we're still waiting for the results of the latter. Last time she had a migraine was when she was pregnant, and my stepson is 23 (no, she's not, she's had a hysterectomy). Gills, she does have a prescription for Sumatriptan, which I happen to take myself (I have a seizure disorder and migraines), and is the generic for Imitrex, but the problem is, you have to take that at the very onset of a headache for it to be effective, and she's had this same headache continuously for weeks now, so the Sumatriptan does very little. Personally, I say that with unexplained migraines that have been going on for weeks, she needs to see a neurologist. Her doctor says that's "jumping the gun," since we don't have the results of the MRI yet. I say that's bull, no matter WHAT those results are, she needs a neurologist, and the only reason I haven't scheduled an appointment myself is that I don't want to alienate this doctor that my wife likes a lot. But I'm not going to wait much longer.
Sorry to highjack a thread..
[QUOTE=kygorski;468245]This is a sticky situation. We cant force companys to make drugs that not profitable,and then if we subsidise certain firms to make them, it will be deemed government interference.This is a situation where were damned if we take that action, and the same applies if we dont.This started to happen in 2006, when they started to look at drug production costs, and drug profit margins.Certain injectable drugs that cost a few bucks to make, were marketed at 50 to 100% mark up.When measures were taken to reign in medicare costs, limits were put into place. Then the drug company lobby, started to work on stopping imports of some of these cheaper drugs.So we have our death panels already working.Flat line, and bottom line are not the same thing.[/QUOTE]
That reminds me of something that happened at my doctor's office a couple of weeks ago. I asked about taking my flu shot and he said that he didn't give them before the middle to last of October. I then asked him about taking an immunization for shingles. He said to me, "We will be glad to do it but YOU have to buy the vaccine." I asked him if it was single-injection vials and he said that it was a multiple-injection vial. I mentioned that it seemed odd that I should have to buy so much for only one injection. Then I asked, "How much will it cost me?" He answered, "A lot," and walked out of the room. I said to the nurse, "That's odd. A doctor's office that requires the patient to buy an entire vial of medication for only one injection. I've recently heard of several people having shingles. Just how much money are we talking about?" She grimaced and then said, "Like he said, a lot." I said, "Well, I'm like this. I'll pay for my own medication, but I will not pay an exorbitant price for an entire vial and let the doctor make a ton of money off what I bought. If I pay for it, I get the whole thing and the pleasure of discarding the unused portion." She said they weren't allowed to let us take unused vaccine out of their office.
I went to Walmart and got my flu shot for $25.
25 bucks? got mine at walgreens, free
The vaccine for shingles, Zostavax, is expensive, $200 - $300 per dose, and insurance usually doesn't cover it. It was just introduced back in 2006. Once it goes generic the price will come down.
I have thoughts about this both ways.......On one hand, I think market prices AND consumerism should drive the cost of a product........including DRUGS.....
On the other hand, when something is ALWAYS paid for by the gubment, and that drives the cost up, then maybe some cost controls are necessary. The funny thing though.......the very thing I DESPISE the the thing that causes the price to spiral out of control.
I really think that costs would be more realistic for most health care if there was not an assumption that every claim would be paid. While this may not be the case in the private sector insurance, most every medicare, medicaid, passport and government supported claim is paid......even those when someone gets services at an er versus a doc in a box.
I really wonder if market managed cost controls would work if folks were given a LIMIT for gubment health care......Example: you have X amount of coverage for preventative and maintenance type expenses........catastrophic is covered differently but if you choose to spend 800 bucks for a sniffle at the ER, and you BLOW all the money allocated due to foolishness, tough CRAP. Figure out how to pay for the next incident.
I don't know..........
Later,
Geo
And if you don't think this crap doesn't happen with providers, I experienced it FIRST hand with my daughter and a campus ran medical center. For some reason they thought it was a good idea to run 1200 dollars in tests for something that she CLEARLY did not have and CLEARLY would have been identified other ways. I questioned the charges, and then met with them and told them to STUFF the claim. I'm on a HSA and they'd have to sue me for it.....
A few days later, I got a letter in the mail that they had made a mistake running such tests, and cut the cost to 250, which I still bitched about, but paid......
If you KNOW what you are paying for, I GUARANTEE you will question the costs.......
Later,
Geo