from the drug store yesterday. My doctor prescribed me something for some severe nausea I have been having. It's the equivalent of what they give chemotherapy patients. She said that the insurance companies didn't like them to prescribe it very much because of its cost, but she didn't have a choice because everything else I've tried isn't working and I'm losing lots of weight. I thought, maybe $600 for the prescription. I go to the drug store to get the script and that shit costs $2708.99 for 60 pills...it makes me so thankful that I have great insurance and it makes me feel so bad for people who don't. I mean think about the people who have cancer and no insurance. Damn...it makes me wanna go give them my script.

5/31/2006 10:42:04 AM

wow, lucky that your insurance is great

what is the drug?

5/31/2006 10:52:46 AM

it's Zofran

5/31/2006 10:54:08 AM

more cowbell?

5/31/2006 10:59:25 AM

This is why I hate drug companies.

5/31/2006 11:23:21 AM

^^damn!

5/31/2006 11:24:33 AM

Quote :

"It's the equivalent of what they give chemotherapy patients."

it IS what they give chemo patients.

people who don't have insurance get it for free and taxpayers foot the bill.

60 pills is a lot.

5/31/2006 11:33:49 AM

I thought you were gonna say Marinol or something like that.

5/31/2006 11:35:44 AM

Quote :

"it's Zofran"

Yes, chemo patients get it often. After my grandmother died, my grandfather hung onto her remaining pills, and my mom ended up using some shortly thereafter. SOOOOOOOOOOO glad we didn't have to pay for those.

5/31/2006 12:14:29 PM

Quote :

"This is why I hate drug companies."

Its not drug companies that are the problem.

5/31/2006 12:21:37 PM

Quote :

"more cowbell?"

my thoughts exactly

5/31/2006 12:24:56 PM

LEGALIZE POT

5/31/2006 3:01:40 PM

Ask for Phenegran? That stuff works wonders on me, be it too much drinking or food poisoning. What's wrong with you, exactly? Maybe get a second opinion?

5/31/2006 3:09:24 PM

Yeah, I tried Phenegran...it actually made me sicker. I have hyperemesis...I'm pregnant. I've lost over 20 pounds and not getting food/water can cause me to have preterm labor. The doctor is limited to what she can prescribe me because I am pregnant and there's only so much that wont hurt the baby. I had previously tried Phenegran and Reglan and neither worked...I'm not an experty on nausea meds that wont hurt my baby, so I guess I'll take these expensive-ass things and be thankful for my insurance.

5/31/2006 3:23:02 PM

oh my gosh that is so frightening!! i hope everything turns out well!

5/31/2006 3:45:04 PM

Quote :

"Its not drug companies that are the problem."

What is the problem then?

5/31/2006 8:39:19 PM

without my insurance my medication costs around $300 a month

every month of every year, forever

5/31/2006 9:08:36 PM

Zofran is expensive as fuck....but it is SO worth the money....had it after several surgeries....makes you love pharmaceutical companies.

DON't ever get IV Phenergan....after a bit it starts to harden your veins and burns severely going in...

[Edited on May 31, 2006 at 9:12 PM. Reason : .]

5/31/2006 9:10:58 PM

Hm, I've had Phenegran. Didn't have to pay a dime for it, though.
Stupid food poisoning.

5/31/2006 10:27:25 PM

pharma companies do make a killing, but they pretty much have to. the risk potential failure after all of that money invested in R&D, they have to have those return dynamics or else no investor or bank would give them the money to make the drug.

also, they have to develop several drugs at a time to be sure that the losses on most are covered by the pricing on the few--its called "the portfolio effect".

[Edited on May 31, 2006 at 10:40 PM. Reason : also]

5/31/2006 10:39:08 PM

How much was your copay?

5/31/2006 10:58:51 PM

Quote :

"This is why I hate drug companies."

hey TWW! We have a MORON!

5/31/2006 11:11:37 PM

u probably didn't pay anything for phenergan b/c most give the generic promethazine. There isn't a generic for zofran. Was it the regular one or the ODT?

5/31/2006 11:42:49 PM

Quote :

"Ask for Phenegran"

this shit made me sleep for 17 hours straight

5/31/2006 11:44:36 PM

they got phenergan (promethazine) suppositories too! those suck

5/31/2006 11:47:38 PM

Quote :

""This is why I hate drug companies.""

i forget the figure but it costs millions to develop a single new drug. they have to make up the costs somewhere.

5/31/2006 11:52:19 PM

Quote :

"DON't ever get IV Phenergan....after a bit it starts to harden your veins and burns severely going in... "

yep, last time i was in the hospital a couple weeks ago, they gave that shit to me...first it makes me jittery as hell and if the nurse didn't know what she was doing, it burned like hell going in...one nurse that put it in put just a teeny bit at a time (over 20 mins or so) and it was fine...the rest of them just shoved it all in at once...ouch! It also didn't help my nausea and just made me not be able to leave my legs still.

I took the pills too which just made me sleepy...

5/31/2006 11:52:47 PM

Quote :

"i forget the figure but it costs millions to develop a single new drug. they have to make up the costs somewhere."

I worked at GSK. Sometimes, they would spend $800m (yes, million) to develop a drug only to have it rejected by the FDA... back to the drawing board.


So for everyone who think the pharmaceutical companies are ripping people off... how would you rather just not have the drugs?

6/1/2006 12:19:46 AM

ever try weed?

6/1/2006 2:13:02 PM

Never fails. Some chongalator comes along and touts marijahoochee as the wonder miracle drug that solves the world's problems.

Did you happen to read the whole post including the part where I mentioned Marinol, which is delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol in pill form?

Stupid shitbag.

6/1/2006 2:17:49 PM

Quote :

"the risk potential failure after all of that money invested in R&D"

Hahahaha...yeah, right. I love how the drug companies list all their promotional funding as part of the "research" line, so you can't figure out how much they actually spend on research.

Not to mention how virtually all truly new drugs these days come from taxpayer-funded NIH research which is sold cheaply to the drug companies. The R&D departments of the major pharmaceutical firms tend to just generate copycat drugs--changing one molecule on an existing med just to get a new patent.

6/1/2006 5:32:41 PM

i have a box of this stuff in my drawer

6/1/2006 5:35:41 PM

here, you never have to pay more than 85 euro/month for prescription drugs, irrespective of your financial situation, insurance, etc: http://oasis.gov.ie/health/health_services_in_ireland/drugs_payments_scheme.html

and still our gdp per capita is only $800 less than the US, we have an economic growth rate of 4.7% and tax rates aren't much higher either

6/1/2006 5:45:32 PM

Quote :

"Was it the regular one or the ODT?"

If you have a choice, the more expensive ODT is the best.

Quote :

"Did you happen to read the whole post including the part where I mentioned Marinol, which is delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol in pill form?"

Shouldn't they make a 14C-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol pill and CBD (cannabidiol) too.

6/1/2006 10:01:00 PM

Zofran ODT is actually a cheaper copay than regular Zofran.

Same drug in both, only difference is the delivery mechanism (PO for ODT, PO/IM/IV for the other).

[Edited on June 1, 2006 at 10:41 PM. Reason : ]

6/1/2006 10:37:51 PM

^^^ go go Ireland

6/1/2006 11:06:47 PM

The sad thing is, if you've had cancer and survived, it's damn near impossible to be insured after that.

6/2/2006 1:50:23 AM

Quote :

"Zofran ODT is actually a cheaper copay than regular Zofran."

that's wierd. i must have bad insurance then.

6/2/2006 1:50:46 AM