| Search Fishin.com |
Senior Member
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.
Senior Member
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.
Senior Member
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.Originally Posted by RoadToad
Senior Member
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.
Senior Member
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.
Senior Member
25 bucks? got mine at walgreens, free
Senior Member
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.
Senior Member
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
Senior Member
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
Senior Member
And for the record........I HATE negotiated rates................HATE them with a passion.
A negotiated rate for X insurance or Y insurance or what I carry should be the SAME for EVERY insurance company. I got a bill for 900 bucks for something else and the negotiated rate was 125, which is what I paid......WTF.....if the cost is 125 or the doc can get away with 125, then THAT is the price.......not the BS inflated price of 900 bucks because some schmuck insurance company Z will arbitrarily pay the 900 bucks.......
BULL CRAP....
Later,
Geo
Senior Member
A lot of times there are only a handful of manufacturers that make the generic drugs. If one of those manufacturers has to shut down production for whatever reason (raw material shortage, not complying with regulations regarding good manufacturing practices, recalls, etc.) then that puts a major dent in the supply. The other one or two manufacturers can't keep up, and then you get the shortages.
We deal with it every day. For the previously mentioned Compazine, there are only a handful of manufacturers right now. We had to buy mass quantities (for us) of multi-dose vials and do it that way because that is all we could get.
Fentanyl is the big one right now. A common narcotic used for pain and sedation, we can't get any right now, and we are about out. The drug has been around forever, but the only type available from the wholesaler is a huge multi-dose vial with enough in it to put down a herd of elephants. We might have to go to that big vial and waste which *****, but is better than having to reschedule colonoscopies and other procedures because we don't have the drug.
Valium is another difficult to get (at the moment).
It's a real pain in the rear.
Shingles vaccine - yeah you gotta play the game to get that one. The doctor's office will gladly inject you with it, but they don't get re-imbursed when they purchase the drug. That's why you have to pay 200 or 300 bucks out of pocket at the pharmacy and then take it back to the physician's office.
Senior Member
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.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote