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I have been on the same dose of thyroid medicine for the past 19 years and with stable perfect throid function labs on that dose. Then, I went to get a refill and they said I had to get a refill from the doc. The pinheads that work in doctor's offices, you do not want to know, believe me. Not the doctors, the other people.
They said according to "policy" I had to get an appointment. I am between insurances so this cost me out of pocket $120. Then, I was told I had to gave a TSH (lab) drawn. That would have cost me $375. Then I had to have another $120 appointment. This all was to cost over $600 to get a frikking prescription refill.
I AM AN RN! I can manage my own case so now I do. I have become my own doctor. This is how I do it. I get my blood drawn at a walk-in lab, no doctor's order needed. TSH lab - cost - $37.00. Then, I order my pills from a pharmacy in England, no prescription needed. Cost: 7.5 cents per pill. I can check on the effectiveness of the drug by looking at my own lab after taking it for a while.
No wonder America's health care is the most expensive in the world!
Bravo Nurse Bishop! Many of us would like to do this too.
In addition, for those of you with a new prescription, double check that it is not a new gimmick that your doctor fell for from a drug rep. Many, many drugs from 10 and 20 years ago are just as good as the latest slight of hand. Drug companies love to twist clinical studies too. The smallest possible evidence that a product is better is blown up into a mountain to shame the doctor if it is not prescribed.
Yes that is right. Medicine loves to fix things that are not broken. Hospitals must have the latest expensive do-hickys when often times an Xray and a good radiologist can diagnose what the deal is.
JanDrugs in Canada is where I but my meds. My daughter's copay for Yasmin for example here in the us is $50. I order 3 mo supply @Jan Drugs for $60. They also list the drugs and prices they stock. I never get generic from them.
If you are in N.C. you should be near a Harris Teeter...?
Get $20 in food per Rx new or refill or transfer through Feb 28 at some stores and until April 3 at other stores.
Our meds are $3.99 + $3.99 + $7.99 and just got 3 of the $20 Rx rewards.
$15.97 for the meds and $60 in free food.
I have been on the same dose of thyroid medicine for the past 19 years and with stable perfect throid function labs on that dose. Then, I went to get a refill and they said I had to get a refill from the doc. The pinheads that work in doctor's offices, you do not want to know, believe me. Not the doctors, the other people.
They said according to "policy" I had to get an appointment. I am between insurances so this cost me out of pocket $120. Then, I was told I had to gave a TSH (lab) drawn. That would have cost me $375. Then I had to have another $120 appointment. This all was to cost over $600 to get a frikking prescription refill.
I AM AN RN! I can manage my own case so now I do. I have become my own doctor. This is how I do it. I get my blood drawn at a walk-in lab, no doctor's order needed. TSH lab - cost - $37.00. Then, I order my pills from a pharmacy in England, no prescription needed. Cost: 7.5 cents per pill. I can check on the effectiveness of the drug by looking at my own lab after taking it for a while.
No wonder America's health care is the most expensive in the world!
I once met a guy that had been hospitalized with a deep vein thrombosis and he told them he wasn't going to take their rat poison when they tried to prescribe it to him, and instead he would take one aspirin every day, and if he nicked himself shaving and thought he bled too long, he would cut back to half an aspirin for a while.
Generics use different formulations than brands, so they aren't identical.
Well generics do have the same active ingrediants, even if one or more of the inactive ingrediants is different.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Malloric
Effectively close enough for me not to waste money on brands when generics are available, but if people want to spend extra on band only drugs it's no skin off my teeth.
Getting rid of generic drugs would bring down the cost of prescriptions in the U.S. in a big way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by flip33
Many, many drugs from 10 and 20 years ago are just as good as the latest slight of hand.
Actually, many drugs in development treat the same thing as previously developed drugs. But in these cases the focus is on being able to do so with fewer side effects.
Quote:
Originally Posted by flip33
Drug companies love to twist clinical studies too.
How so? Please elaborate. And is this from your own knowledge of working in the pharmaceutical industry, or just from stuff you've read on web pages?
Quote:
Originally Posted by flip33
The smallest possible evidence that a product is better is blown up into a mountain to shame the doctor if it is not prescribed.
"Shame the doctor,"? You have no clue what you are babbling about.
Please check: NeedyMeds
they posted links to many programs that offer free or reduced priced drugs. They also appear to have a discount card that offers deeper discounts than most others.
Here is the discount card: http://www.needymeds.org/drugcard/drugcard.pdf
And, to find which drugstores in your area have the lowest prices on prescription drugs, try: GoodRx - Prescription Drug Prices at Local and Online Pharmacies
You can even download the free GoodRx mobile app for prices and coupons on the go!
Do NOT trust the pricing on that site I highlighted. I know for a fact that it is seriously wrong for our area, with the lowest cost pharmacy being rated at one of the highest cost. Also, it lists HealthWarehouse as about the lowest cost - only problem is that the company will take the order, but unless your physician faxes it in and is standing by the phone to receive their confirmation call (which may occur days later), the order will be delayed or never filled. I've used them successfully ONCE, and tried repeatedly at other times for maintenance medications. The last time I even called after placing the order, to verify that everything was on track. Their representative confirmed it and told me not to worry. Within 48 hours I STILL got an automated message that the order couldn't be filled because they couldn't reach the physician. By that time I was out of pills and had to scramble. Never again. I'd sooner deal with AT&T.
More and more people are realizing that getting medications from Canada, Europe, and India are the way to go. The drug company strawman about those pills not being as safe as U.S. manufactured pills was blown when they cut production on critical medications and the U.S. government itself began importing to cover the shortfalls.
I think its disgusting that my RX are 1/3 of the price in Canada than here in the US
Well there are a number of reasons for that.
1 - The Canadian government does impose some price controls on what drug companies can charge to distributors. However, these price controls can often prevent newer medications from being made available. (and, interestingly enough, these price controls do not apply to generic drugs; as a result there are often many generic versions of drugs that are actually cheaper in the U.S. then in Canada).
2 - Pharma companies in Canada spend much less on liability insurance than those based in the U.S. Blame our sue-happy culture in the States for that one.
3 - A much larger percentage of research and development of new drugs takes place in American pharma companies compared to those in other countries. The higher cost of drugs in the States allows for this level of R&D.
4 - On average, the standard of living in Canada tends to be lower than for those living in the U.S., which also has an effect on the costs of various types of products, including medications.
I have been on the same dose of thyroid medicine for the past 19 years and with stable perfect throid function labs on that dose. Then, I went to get a refill and they said I had to get a refill from the doc. The pinheads that work in doctor's offices, you do not want to know, believe me. Not the doctors, the other people.
They said according to "policy" I had to get an appointment. I am between insurances so this cost me out of pocket $120. Then, I was told I had to gave a TSH (lab) drawn. That would have cost me $375. Then I had to have another $120 appointment. This all was to cost over $600 to get a frikking prescription refill.
I AM AN RN! I can manage my own case so now I do. I have become my own doctor. This is how I do it. I get my blood drawn at a walk-in lab, no doctor's order needed. TSH lab - cost - $37.00. Then, I order my pills from a pharmacy in England, no prescription needed. Cost: 7.5 cents per pill. I can check on the effectiveness of the drug by looking at my own lab after taking it for a while.
No wonder America's health care is the most expensive in the world!
Certainly the doctor has to actaully see you by law to continue to prescribe the drug that are comtrolled. Same as he can not actually admit you to hospital without seeig you frst as required by medicare;and insurance. That is why you are often admitted thru the emergency room doctors exam and determination. Its not drugs and care on patient demand at all.There are laws governing prescriptions. Othertwsie why bother having a doctor tell a drug store its okj;the law could allow them to refill since see has seen you to decide if its to be continued.
Up until a couple years ago I belonged to the Minnesota Senior Federation. Why, since I live in Wyoming? Because they helped in providing good, safe Canadian prescription drugs. They even sponsored bus trips to Canada for that purpose, not that I used that feature, but I was able to price the drugs from their website, select the drug store and order by phone (and fax the prescriptions). Membership was something like $20 annually and it saved me thousand$.
Unfortunately MSF was unable to make ends meet and they had to close down after 37 years.
Some of the prescription drugs I bought from Canada cost a small fraction of what they are in the states, for the exact same thing! They also ordered some generic drugs from India when the Canadian the price wasn't much cheaper than U.S. prices. My daughter is a pharmacist and in middle management for one of this country's largest drug store chains, and when I told her I'd been getting my drugs from Canada she thought I was nuts. "They may not be safe." Boloney! I told her the drug stores were recommended by the MSF, so then she figured it was fine.
I've lost track of which Canadian pharmacy I was using, but I'm now on Medicare.
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