President Bush and Congress have been anxious to pass a Medicare prescription drug benefit in response to the pain inflicted by rising drug costs. The typical senior household now spends nearly 10 percent of its after-tax income on prescription drugs. For poorer families, or those with serious medical problems, the costs are far greater, in many cases absorbing a lifetime… return to article
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Reader Comments (8)Page 1 of 1 pagesAs a person soon to retire, I plan to escape from America. I am sick and tired of corporate governance and being a cash cow for every politician out there. It’s not just drugs, it’s everything from utilities to that half empty $5 box of breakfast cereal. Good luck to the rest of you! You are going to need it.
Posted by mcpat on Sep 15, 2003 at 2:07 PM “As a person soon to retire, I plan to escape from America”. Sorry, America will get to you - NAFTA, WTO, IMF.....
Andre, Portugal
Posted by Andre on Sep 15, 2003 at 4:23 PM Ha… our country is a real disgrace a lot of times…
Posted by Stephanie Dory on Sep 15, 2003 at 6:39 PM Thank you for pointing out what would be common sense in any endeavor except in the U.S., which is obsessed with profit.
If we think the politicians who rely on the money (profit) for reelection will ever do the right thing then I’ll offer to sell you whatever bridge you’d like to buy.
Posted by Chris Stevens on Sep 16, 2003 at 8:22 AM Unfortunately, the patent genie is out of the bottle and can’t be forced back in. Once you start down the patent path, there is no going back (vide software patents). I’ve always been incensed that the discoveries and developments that I had a hand in during my government career were being handed to profit-makers rather than being available to all who could take advantage of them. I don’t have a problem with profit - just make it from true competition, not positions of privilege.
Also, the drug companies and large investors will spend whatever it takes to buy enough congresspersons to kill this type of reform, since it strikes directly at the heart of their profits.
Posted by ex-NIH employee on Sep 16, 2003 at 11:42 AM Did you say “profit in patents” or “profit in patients.” Oh, wait, same thing.
Posted by neil on Sep 21, 2003 at 10:42 AM Men with advanced prostate cancer, men who fail surgery and or radiation often receive salvage androgen blockade.
A one month Lupron shot for reversable chemical castration costs about $300. A single 30 mg Luprolide shot supposedly good for four months costs about $2,000.00 shot. That is $70 for a miligram of a well researched drug added to a delay medication system. Astro Zentech was fined by the US goverment. They were providing free samples to urologists to introduce the drug and suggesting that the MD could bill the patient for the full cost of the drug. They make so much money on each shot kit that Astro-Zenica can afford to give away free samples.
Casodex (bicalutamide) by Merk acts to support androgen ablation in support of or as a monotherapy.
A 50 mg Casodex tablet to be taken once or up yo three times daily costs about $10.00 US. The same 50 mg tablet can sell for from $5 to $7 US in Canada and for about $14 Euros in Europe for a 150 mg tablet. A similar drug, Flutamide costs about $0.40 per miligram. A 50 mg of Casodex probably costs about $2.00 to produce. One pound of Casodex sells for $100,000 and that is why there is counterfiting of legitemate drugs. A bottle of 100 50 mg Casodex tablets produced for $200 can easily sell for a $400 profit. Monthly cost of Lupron plus Casodex therapy is about $800, about $10,000 per year of life. consequently, many men are under medicated.
Jack Burtt
Posted by Jack Burtt on Sep 23, 2003 at 1:07 PM Page 1 of 1 pages -
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