Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Hackles and Meds

In recent posts, we've explored the rising costs and potential supply problems of "specialty meds" such as Makena and immune deficiency therapies. Fellow medblogger Lisa Emrich is deeply concerned about the increasing volatility of MS (Multiple Sclerosis) medications:

"It is expected that Gilenya will net more than $3 billion in annual sales. When the pricing of Gilenya was announced in September, members of the MS community were outraged. I was disappointed to say the least. $4000 per month for any medication is outrageous."

Almost $50 thousand a year to treat this condition, most of the cost of which is borne by insurance companies (and thus, thee and me). And even this number is suspect because, as Lisa points out, "you will note that the numbers quoted vary from source to source. Such is the nature of the pharmaceutical business. Patients do not have easy access to information such as wholesale price."

I urge you to read the whole thing for some thought-provoking insights.
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