Americans on Drug Prices
A new poll released yesterday found that 41 percent of Americans say they have trouble paying for their prescription drugs. If older folks' experience is any indication, the bite is certainly growing more painful: The AARP reported today that the prices of brand-name drugs used most by seniors rose an average 7.4 percent in 2007, more than twice the rate of inflation. But yesterday's poll also found that 32 percent have asked their doctor about a drug they saw advertised. I'm not suggesting that the very same people who say they can't afford their drugs are the ones inquiring about the pricey brand-name drugs they see on TV. But it makes you wonder when sizable numbers of Americans find both those statements to be true.
The study of 1,695 adults, jointly sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Harvard School of Public Health, and USA Today, found that about two thirds believed there are too many drug ads on TV and a similar number said that prescription drug ads encourage people to take medications they don't need. Do people need the sleeping pills, impotence drugs, and stomach acid relievers that seem to get the most air time these days? I don't know. I'd like to think that doctors steer their patients — especially the low-income and uninsured ones who reported having the most worries about drug costs — to over-the-counter or generic alternatives if they're available. The study found that 82 percent of those who asked their doctors about an advertised drug walked away with a prescription for either that drug or another one. Maybe it was a generic. I hope so.
Tags: prescription drugs
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Needed Drugs
First, no serious medical condition is satisfied by over-the-counter drugs. People who have serious medical conditions require prescription drugs. Any drug that actually affects such conditions have side effects, which is why they require prescriptions.
Moreover, while many conditions can be treated effectively by generic drugs, not all can be and brand name drugs in the United States generally are very expensive, much more so than in many other countries around the world. Further, the drug companies, in collusion with various parts of our federal government, work very hard at keeping drugs from going generic.
Finally, older people on Medicare are affected by the so-called donut hole, wherein most patients who hit a reimbursement ceiling must pay the full cost for their medications for the rest of the year or until they reach a very large expenditure, whichever comes first. For an oldsters on fixed incomes and without independent wealth, the donut hole is very much a financial burden. Some attempt to save money through Canada. Others who still can drive and live near the border go to Mexico and buy cheaper drugs there.
Those who have very little money and cannot get to Mexico may resort to ordering questionable generics from places like India. Many, especially the very old who cannot drive or use the internet simply do without and suffer the consequences.
It is a damned shame that the United States of America has allowed market forces and the corporate drive for profit to subject our aging parents and grandparents to such pitiful circumstances in their declining years. We all should be ashamed of not demanding a better societiel response to the needs of aging.
Drug costs for seniors and every one else
We need a single payer health insurance law,RIGHT NOW.Stop the big pharmeceutical companies and health insurance companys from being merchants of death.
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