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A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

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Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#51

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

yieldcrv wrote: post #6

out of curiosity, how much would this drug cost in Europe if they had required prescriptions as well the article does a good job of showing the self serving double speak and the lack of pursuing an OTC option in the US, but I want to compare costs directly, since the article also acknowledges that OTC would have been much cheaper than $800 in the US too

Europe doesn't have a single health service. There are going to be different prices in different countries under different schemes.

In my EU country I get a subsidy of at least two thirds on most drug prices with a state prescription. But the nominal cost is already negotiated down by state purchasing, and I suspect there's some EU cooperation there. So it's impossible to say what the "normal" price would be.

The cost of the paperwork depends on your doctor. I pay €3 for new paperwork a few times a year.

You can get many drugs OTC here without a prescription - more expensive, but it always surprises tourists who suddenly discover they can get many common meds (except for things like antibiotics and steroids) just by asking.

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#53

Post by dotancohen »

terminalshort wrote: post #43

If a drug isn't one of the following it should be available over the counter. 1. heinously addictive 2. incredibly dangerous when not used exactly correctly 3. an antibiotic (due to the resistance externality) And for drugs that do meet one of these conditions, doctors should be able to write lifetime prescriptions for cases where the medication is used to treat a permanent condition. This probably covers 95% of non-…

Then who would feed the gatekeepers?

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#54

Post by maccard »

dyauspitr wrote: post #47
khannn wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was on a blood thinner and the medication was very pricey. Didn't have insurance and the "savings card" covered fuck all unless you had insurance. There are three blood thinners on the US market and they all cost a lot.

If you don’t have insurance, you’re essentially fucked in the US but this thread is not referencing that situation. My CAT scan was billed for $10,000 but what I paid was about $200 with insurance. Without insurance I would owe $10k.

> Without insurance I would owe $10k.

Without insurance you would be _billed_ $10k but in reality you likely end up paying less than that. It's still scandalous, mind you.

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#55

Post by terminalshort »

A_D_E_P_T wrote: post #41
Aurornis wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no free market at play here. This is the result of FDA regulations not allowing anyone to sell it unless they did a New Drug Application first, which could cost a billion or more. Therefore nobody in the free market was allowed to sell it without putting up the capital first, which they have to collect back now. You could actually order this from amazon.de up until recently and have it shipped to you. That s…

This is true. When you look at actually free markets -- like the gray markets in bodybuilding drugs, "nootropics," peptides, etc. -- you'll find that there's usually a race to the bottom on price, and that everything is easily affordable out of pocket. Quality also tends to be okay, as lab reports are one of the primary ways that customers rank and differentiate between brands. And these aren't necessarily old pharma…

Where is a good place to start looking to access these gray markets?

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#56

Post by Bender »

Theoretically speaking how much would the components cost if one made it themselves? [1][2] My interests are purely academic as I have no need for this.

[1] - https://fourthievesvinegar.org/

[2] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rQklSmI_F0 [video][1hr16m][DEFCON 32]

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#57

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

xnorswap wrote: post #39
Insanity wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that might be worse than just having the high price. Such a kafka-esque systems just to get medicine.

The best thing about universal healthcare isn't how much money I may or may not have to pay, it's that I literally don't once have to think about a bill or filling out a form to avoid paying too much. I wouldn't care if I ended up paying more in tax than I would in an insurance model. The benefit is being able to 100% focus on my health instead of navigating a system to try to reduce what I'm paying. When you're diag…

[flagged]

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#58

Post by A_D_E_P_T »

terminalshort wrote: post #55
A_D_E_P_T wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is true. When you look at actually free markets -- like the gray markets in bodybuilding drugs, "nootropics," peptides, etc. -- you'll find that there's usually a race to the bottom on price, and that everything is easily affordable out of pocket. Quality also tends to be okay, as lab reports are one of the primary ways that customers rank and differentiate between brands. And these aren't necessarily old pharma…

Where is a good place to start looking to access these gray markets?

peptidesciences.com among many others.

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#60

Post by dlisboa »

philip1209 wrote: post #38

What's to stop congress from passing a blanket "most favored nation" law for VA + medicare on all pricing, inclusive of insurance rates and discounts? Seems like it would be fair and useful.

The US Congress doesn’t pass laws anymore. Let alone fair and useful ones.
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