There should be a civil war in the U.S. for this alone.
A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.
261–270 of 274 posts
Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.
#262Earlier quoted context omitted.
+1 This is the "exception that proves the rule" I guess One of the best OTC medicine for motion sickeness hand down Dramamine is (almost literally) a bad joke
What's the deal with Dramamine? It's pushed everywhere but it has zero effect on me, I even tried 4 pills at once, nothing at all
I think it is generally pretty effective for most people. Science says it is roughly comparable to hycosine.
For me, I find that one Dramamine I (dimenhydrinate) pill is very effective at preventing motion sickness, but it will put me to sleep quite reliably a couple hours later. Two pills and I can play Unreal Tournament 2004 until I'm too tired to sit up. I'd be quite concerned though with 3 or 4 pills about hallucinations -- and from my understanding, the hallucinations you get on dimenhydrinate are not good.
Dramamine II (aka Less Drowsy), which is meclizine, is a little less effective but usually adequate, but still reliably makes me really sleepy the rest of the day.
Kwells (hycosine) is the least effective overall for me, but I can take a little more if I need to, and it does not make me drowsy at all. I would take original dramamine every time based on effectiveness if not for the drowsy part.
Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.
#263Earlier quoted context omitted.
All the non-expansion states make it available too; just at a lower income threshold or other requirements. Making a statement that most poor people in America can’t get epi-pens is false. Most poor people can for free.
> Making a statement that most poor people in America can’t get epi-pens is false. Most poor people can for free. There are 26 million uninsured in the US and deductibles also exist for everyone so this is just blatantly false
I guess it depends on how you define “poor” and “uninsured”. Considering most of America offers Medicaid expansion or ACA plans, being uninsured is basically a choice.
Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.
#264Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't confuse silicon oxide with a PFAS. It is quite the negligent and hazardous fallacy to put them in the same bucket. One has been around for billions of years. The other hardly has any research, and will take at least a decade more of data and research before we know what's it is capable of. You are in no way smart enough to understand and consider all the pathways, uptake mechanisms, and consequences that are af…
The same argument applies to literally everything, including doing nothing.
PFAS is to my knowledge the only human-created unnatural class of compounds that does not deteriorate in the environment. So no, the argument applies exclusively to PFAS.
Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.
#265Earlier quoted context omitted.
Forms alone won't accomplish anything if the dose isn't correct. With regard to vitamin A, some people confuse it with beta carotene, with the latter not working so well for this effect. Vitamin A even has evidence backing it as per PMC6462169. It does take a few weeks to begin to work. Even mild improvements stack up. It may not eliminate the need for an additional intervention, but it can mean the difference betwee…
Again, I read that and tried various forms. Yes, they do help a bit. No, they don't help a lot. The study you cited find only a weak effect on some endpoints. Same for fish oil and various omega-3 acids. The effects are either weak or in some cases non-existent ( https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1709691 ).
It is together that things work better. It is silly to look only at an individual effect.
Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.
#266Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Making a statement that most poor people in America can’t get epi-pens is false. Most poor people can for free. There are 26 million uninsured in the US and deductibles also exist for everyone so this is just blatantly false
I guess it depends on how you define “poor” and “uninsured”. Considering most of America offers Medicaid expansion or ACA plans, being uninsured is basically a choice.
Im sure the 4 million uninsured kids could’ve sold lemonade on the weekends or something
Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.
#267FYI for anyone who isn't familiar with the wacky US insurance situation: Nobody in the US actually pays $800 for the drug. That's the "list price" for insurance companies to pay. Even insurance companies don't pay that price because they negotiate their own rates with the drug companies, which are lower. Then the drug companies come in and offer a "savings card" which you apply at the pharmacy like another layer of i…
Except when for example your insurer choses to have certain exclusions. For example, my insurer does not cover weight loss medication. So starting next year, I'm on the hook for the $650 / month. I could of course stay fat, get diabetes and then get on Mounjaro, which is covered.
What med do you plan to pay $650/mo for? Tirzepatide is $300-450/mo straight from Lilly[0] and semaglutide is similar from Novo[1]. (This is another price cut after Lilly dropped prices already in February[2].) It would not be shocking to see prices continue to fall in 2026 as semaglutide goes off-patent in Canada and maybe some of the in-pipeline drugs from other manufacturers come to market.
[0]: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/...
[1]: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/...
[2]: https://investor.lilly.com/news-releases/news-release-detail...
Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.
#268Earlier quoted context omitted.
Except when for example your insurer choses to have certain exclusions. For example, my insurer does not cover weight loss medication. So starting next year, I'm on the hook for the $650 / month. I could of course stay fat, get diabetes and then get on Mounjaro, which is covered.
What med do you plan to pay $650/mo for? Tirzepatide is $300-450/mo straight from Lilly[0] and semaglutide is similar from Novo[1]. (This is another price cut after Lilly dropped prices already in February[2].) It would not be shocking to see prices continue to fall in 2026 as semaglutide goes off-patent in Canada and maybe some of the in-pipeline drugs from other manufacturers come to market. [0]: https://www.reuter…
Their autoinjectors are $650. But I did not know we could now get vials for my dose.
This is great. I appreciate your comment. I really do. This medication has been a godsend.
Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.
#269Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I would think that americans would be much more vigilant about what medication they take This is why I always check to make sure it's fiscally responsible before I start chemotherapy, or before buying that emergency inhaler for asthma, or before accepting paralytics and anesthesia when undergoing surgery. How fortunate that in America diabetics have the freedom to die rather than take overpriced insulin. Let the fr…
> Sure, in America millions will die or be bankrupted by healthcare costs every year, but that's better than spending a single $ from your own wallet if even a tiny fraction of it might help pay for someone else's medications right? I do believe your question is false, we don't spend a tiny amount of our money on healthcare. Around 20% of our revenue, in France, goes to the universal healthcare. And yes, I would rath…
> Around 20% of our revenue, in France, goes to the universal healthcare.
I wish we only had to pay 20%!
For those of us who are lucky enough to have health insurance 27% of our paychecks go to it which still doesn't pay for much of what we need. People with insurance commonly need to pay around $30 for every visit to a doctor. That's just the cost to walk in the door and doesn't cover many of the services/treatment your doctor will give you beyond a check up and common types of lab work.
Our poor healthcare system results in a lot of illness and over 60% of Americans need to take prescription drugs every day. Most of the people taking drugs are taking 4 or more. The insurance that takes almost 30% of our income doesn't fully cover those either. Each drug that is covered by your insurance will typically require you pay $10-$20 each month when you pick them up at the pharmacy. It's common for Americans to have to spend $40-$80 for their medications every month. A third of Americans can't afford to fill their prescriptions and are forced to suffer and get sicker. A quarter of Americans report having to put off medical treatment for serious conditions because it is unaffordable.
People without insurance have it much much worse.
That doesn't even include the costs of things like eye care (glasses), dental care, emergencies, specialized treatments, surgeries, ambulance rides, etc. The single greatest cause of finical ruin in America is the cost of healthcare. If people only ever had to pay 20% no one would go bankrupt, or lose their home, or die because of healthcare costs.
Having to pay only 20% of your income to medical expenses would be a dream come true in the US. Please trust me as an American, your system is better by far. Or don't trust me and listen to the countless experts who will tell you that our healthcare system is garbage and that yours is better. That doesn't make your system ideal by any means, but don't envy us or look to us as an example.
> I would rather manage that money myself because I believe I am better at doing so that my government. Isn't that one the core beliefs of Americans?
Not really? Things at a certain scale are impossible for individuals to manage alone. Healthcare expenses are one of those things. Maybe you could shave some percentage points off of your own healthcare spending, but that would cause you to end up in a situation like we have where large numbers of people can't get the care they need at all and are ruined by the expense. For the nation, that's much worse. Even for you it would be worse because having a bunch of sick people living in poverty all around you has far reaching effects. Your odds of getting sick increase. Homelessness increases. Crime increases. Living in a society where people are healthy and taken care of is well worth the extra 5% or even 10% you'd save.
A "free market" is one that exists without any enforcement/interference by the government. I agree that government should intervene to stop the greedy oligarchs from keeping drug prices high, but that would be the literal opposite of a free market. You don't want a free market, you just want better regulation of the healthcare industry and I don't blame you. I do too.
Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.
#270Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nobody in my family has any kind of crazy chronic conditions. A few surgeries, a couple of c-sections, a week in the NICU, a few short stays in some hospitals. We've experienced nearly half a million in healthcare benefits from our insurance companies over the years. I don't think I'm ever going to pay enough in premiums to cover these costs.
Lucky them... Having the privilege to... checks notes be sick.
I'm just pointing out this line:
> You will (or already have) pay the full price.
Isn't true for a lot of people.