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Absurd Cost of Drug

Circlenaut

Circlenaut

Platinum Member
Last year I started receiving infusions of Remicade for my Crohn's. I knew the treatment was expensive but not THIS expensive. I just received in the mail a summery of how much I cost my insurance carrier this past year. My HMO paid $39K while the hospital paid $41K (through the heath safety net, a program in MA). For $80k (keep in mind cost is weight dependent and I'm 120lb) I'd expect a lot more. I haven't even felt too much of a difference on it and frankly large doses of Boswellia and Echinacea has helped me a lot more with noticeable differences. I'm definitely speaking with my doctor about getting off it, it's simply not worth the cost at all. My sincere apologies to all the people on my HMO and to the taxpayers of MA.
 
I use liquid Aloe. One dose in a glass of Orange Juice, once a month.

Haven't had a flareup in years... and haven't needed any control or pain drugs.
 
dude, how do you think they're paying me $80/hr to supervise a technician to make it? 🙂

lol jk, ask your MD about humira. It's a weekly-twice/month subq shot that you don't have to go to the hospital for.
 
brainhulk said:
dude, how do you think they're paying me $80/hr to supervise a technician to make it? 🙂

lol jk, ask your MD about humira. It's a weekly-twice/month subq shot that you don't have to go to the hospital for.
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I know you're a pharmacist, but I'm curious as to what title you hold in the hospital. $80/hour for hospital work is significantly higher than retail pay which is typically where the big bucks are made.
 
Dangerer said:
I know you're a pharmacist, but I'm curious as to what title you hold in the hospital. $80/hour for hospital work is significantly higher than retail pay which is typically where the big bucks are made.
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i'm a graveyard pharmacist, I get lots o' bonuses for working a shift that hospitals struggle to fill
 
brainhulk said:
dude, how do you think they're paying me $80/hr to supervise a technician to make it? 🙂
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???

I worked at a drug company before. We were paid $17/h to make HIV and hepatitis medication. The cost of one of those drugs in the US was $3000 per month.
 
ShawnD1 said:
???

I worked at a drug company before. We were paid $17/h to make HIV and hepatitis medication. The cost of one of those drugs in the US was $3000 per month.
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hmm research, development, clinical trials, marketing and...add monoclonal antibody type drugs to the mix = millions of dollars the drug companies have to recoup
 
ShawnD1 said:
???

I worked at a drug company before. We were paid $17/h to make HIV and hepatitis medication. The cost of one of those drugs in the US was $3000 per month.
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Factor in the lab costs, the preclinical trials, the clinical trials, the FDA application, the cost of raw materials and equipment, the cost to keep equipment and SOP's up to date, marketing and distribution costs, etc. You can be sure it cost a lot more than $17/hour for those drugs.
 
My last company is about to release a drug. I believe the cost for an annual treatment was going to $80k with hopes of generating $2b in revenue annually.

However, it's taken 10 years and around $3-4b to develop.
 
I totally understand where you are coming from OP. In 2007, I was hospitalized for 7 days when I came down with Guillain Barre Syndrome. While in the hospital, I received three, 150 gram infusions of intravenous immunoglobulin G (IVIG) every day. IVIG costs ~$50-60 per gram, so each infusion was roughly $8250! I almost fainted when I received a bill from the hospital totaling $58,000.

Thankfully, my luxury lawyer health insurance picked up the entire tab. But I was sweating it for a while.
 
brainhulk said:
hmm research, development, clinical trials, marketing and...add monoclonal antibody type drugs to the mix = millions of dollars the drug companies have to recoup
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Drug companies spend more on sales/marketing/advertising than they do on R&D.
 
Phokus said:
Drug companies spend more on sales/marketing/advertising than they do on R&D.
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proposed healthcare plan: it's illegal to advertise prescription drugs

I love the ones where it's 10 seconds about what the drug does then 20 seconds of unwanted side effects. May compromise immune system. In rare cases <product> causes <thing> which may lead to death. Tell your doctor if you are currently taking <10 of the most popular otc drugs> because mixing the two could cause serious heart valve damage.
 
brainhulk said:
damn, I just looked up how much we charge for a 120lb pt...$12,000 for one dose. yikes
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Wow. That's an impressive markup.

The actual drug costs (on the open wholesale market) are approximately $900 for a dose (for a 120 lb person).
 
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Medical costs are crazy. Last May I had an overnight stay in the hospital that included 2 CAT scans, 2 MRIs, a cerebral angiogram, and an ultrasound. The cost was well over $100K... Yikes.
 
tk149 said:
Factor in the lab costs, the preclinical trials, the clinical trials, the FDA application, the cost of raw materials and equipment, the cost to keep equipment and SOP's up to date, marketing and distribution costs, etc. You can be sure it cost a lot more than $17/hour for those drugs.
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...and consider that only 10% (less, i think) of drug development actually makes it to a marketable drug.

..so 90% of the studies, each costing multiple millions of dollars-- well into a billion if they make it to large scale clinical trials--fail.

that's fucking expensive.
 
ShawnD1 said:
proposed healthcare plan: it's illegal to advertise prescription drugs

I love the ones where it's 10 seconds about what the drug does then 20 seconds of unwanted side effects. May compromise immune system. In rare cases <product> causes <thing> which may lead to death. Tell your doctor if you are currently taking <10 of the most popular otc drugs> because mixing the two could cause serious heart valve damage.
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:thumbsup:

I really want to see pills out of magazines and off of TV. The patient is not the doctor. at the same time, Doctors need to spend more time listening during appointments.

also, I don't think the Pharm companies spend as much money on marketing as people think--in comparison to how much is actually lost in R&D for the vast majority of trials that never gain FDA approval.
 
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