Medicament in the US

[Azunite]

My dad needed to buy his blood pressure pills today. We went to the pharmacy together and a whole box of pills costed only 5 liras ( approx. 3 dollars ). I was like "That's indeed cheap" and the woman at the counter said "Yeah they lowered the prices a month ago". These weren't Turkish-made pills, they were your average high-quality-medicine-from-Europe.

Last summer I went to Chicago with my dad and we couldn't retrieve our luggages after the flight and we had to buy "supplies" ( toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorent, etc ) for a night because we had nothing except money. So we went to the pharmacy, bought tootbrush etc. then my dad remember he needed Augmentine. So my dad goes to the counter, asks for Augmentine, the woman gives him Augmentine, then she said: "It's 200 dollars". We were staggered, then the woman added: "If you need only several pills, you can buy them seperately. Each pill is 20 dollars". Seriously? A box only of 10 pills of Augmentine is 200 dollars? What the flying fuck? It's only 10 liras here!

It turns out the woman wasn't trying to screw us, because whenever we told this story to someone else ( cab driver, concierge, etc. ) They told the same thing. Medicines are super expensive in the US.

I still cannot understand it. How can one single pill cost 20 dollars?! How can it be so expensive?!

Thoughts, opinions...

[Korashk]

I still cannot understand it. How can one single pill cost 20 dollars?! How can it be so expensive?!
Because the research and development for pills costs millions of dollars. You're not paying for the pill, you're paying so the pharmaceutical company can recoup the cost of making that pill and so they can make other pills in the future.

EDIT: Insurance also covers the cost of a lot of people's pills. For instance, if I needed those pills I might pay 10 or 20 bucks out of pocket for a month's worth.

[Dimitri]

My ADHD medication can run from $17 a pill to $35, my heart medication on the other hand cost $7 for thirty....

[aperson444]

Pharmaceuticals are big business. Some medications are ridiculously easy to make (take Adderall, which is Amphetamine), but selling them at a high price maximizes profit. Some medications are actually pretty hard to make (buprenorphine for example), but the dose is so small that any company that can make a a few hundred grams can fulfill the entire demand for the medication.

It's all about profit/making money. In some places the medications are made so cheaply (precursors cost very little for example) that selling the medication at a high price (and thus cutting the amount demanded) would be redundant.

Another factor contributing to price of medication is the elasticity of demand. Stuff like Viagra isn't absolutely vital and if a company raised the price to $100/pill, no one would buy Viagra. However more vital medications have a lower elasticity of demand. Medications for very fatal or life-threatening conditions are needed by the patient, so the pharmaceutical company has 100% (or almost 100%) control over the price. The patient is at the mercy of the pharmaceutical company, because without that medication he/she cannot survive.

Pharmaceuticals are nothing more than chemicals. A company usually makes large batches of them at once then presses the raw chemical into hundreds or thousands of tablets. When making a chemical you have only one variable cost: the precursors (and labor, but that's irrelevant relative to the precursor and the equipment). That's assuming that your batch size can fir in your glassware and reaction tanks. The fixed cost is the plant and the equipment. You can imagine that even if the precursors are dirt cheap, the equipment needed to make enough medicine to meet demand is fairly expensive. If you can somehow cover that fixed cost (the land and equipment) then you are very likely able to cover the costs of precursors. Bam. Make 100,000 pills and ship them off to pharmacies. When you sell each unit by the dose rather than by mass (i.e buying the powder by the gram), you have more units to sell.

[Azunite]

Because the research and development for pills costs millions of dollars. You're not paying for the pill, you're paying so the pharmaceutical company can recoup the cost of making that pill and so they can make other pills in the future.

So no European medicine company needs extra money for the research but the American companies need it?

[Amaryllis]

Like all companies, they need to earn money and to do that their goods and services need to be sold profitably. The drug business is pretty risky. Only 1/10 drugs are approved, most of the money is spent on the research and development. The company manufacturing the Augmentin are probably spending loads of money encouraging people to buy their drugs and creating new drugs.

Companies -know- people need medication, they don't have much of a choice. They can use that to their advantage and make everything cost a bombshell. Because they know you'll buy it. When the demand goes up, so does the price. It's the normal balance of things, it's how shares, goods and services work.

The price of the medication must cover marketing, profits, post-marketing studies, as well as the cost of developing new drugs for approval.

Basically, it's all about the money.

[Korashk]

So no European medicine company needs extra money for the research but the American companies need it?
They need it too. I'm not entirely sure how it works across the pond, but I'm sure companies get subsidized by the government for R&D.

It might have something to do with NHS.

[scuba steve]

They need it too. I'm not entirely sure how it works across the pond, but I'm sure companies get subsidized by the government for R&D.

It might have something to do with NHS.

Not if they're exported to Turkey, those pills more than likely came from mainland Europe: Germany etc.

[Good Night]

The United States spends more money on health care than any other country in the world. However, our quality of health care lags behind many other developed countries. There's way too many reasons to list, but it's pretty ridiculous just how much money we spend for mediocre-quality.

[Azunite]

Not if they're exported to Turkey, those pills more than likely came from mainland Europe: Germany etc.

Yeah. Germany, Switzerland, etc...

The goods are exported yet they are 10-15 times cheaper. Those companies also need money for researches, experiments and projects and all we do is to pay 5 liras for each bottle.

[chazzrox2]

Studying this for a living I should know that companies will only charge extortionate amounts for new drugs and prices drop significantly after that. Why do u think aspirin is 6p in England! Augmentine is a relatively old drug, it's odd that it should cost so much in America, it may be because of import and licensing charges in Anerica because of the sale from GlaxoSmithKline in Europe to America?

[RoseyCadaver]

Well Americans are over weight, and since we have eating problems we also have health problems.

It could be from supply and demand here. Lot of unhealthy people needing medicine could lead to a good demand in medicine, so why not charge a lot(be it I don't think they should, I'm just saying in the grand scheme of money it's good)?

[jacknife]

Because the pharmaceutical industry is one of, if not thee, most corrupt industries in all the world. It consists of government-backed monopolies primarily concerned with profit - not your health. They have the FDA on their side, as well; and the APA, which releases their book of nonsense "diseases" (the DSM). Then there's the insurance companies.

All of it is designed to get you to pop their pills for every little ache and sore you have. Depressed? Take this. Back ache? Take that.

The whole industry is a racket, and they make huge profits off convincing everyone they need drugs to get by; and since they're in bed with government, there's no competition to lower prices. The lack of competition and the high demand equal high prices. But both facts are systematically altered by the industrial-complexes of the world so as to create greater profit.

That is basically why your dad's pill costs 20 freakin' dollars.

[RoseyCadaver]

Because the pharmaceutical industry is one of, if not thee, most corrupt industries in all the world. It consists of government-backed monopolies primarily concerned with profit - not your health. They have the FDA on their side, as well; and the APA, which releases their book of nonsense "diseases" (the DSM). Then there's the insurance companies.

All of it is designed to get you to pop their pills for every little ache and sore you have. Depressed? Take this. Back ache? Take that.

The whole industry is a racket, and they make huge profits off convincing everyone they need drugs to get by; and since they're in bed with government, there's no competition to lower prices. The lack of competition and the high demand equal high prices. But both facts are systematically altered by the industrial-complexes of the world so as to create greater profit.

That is basically why your dad's pill costs 20 freakin' dollars.

What he said.

[Sporadica]

in a few countries I remember pharmacutical companies are only allowed to make a certain percentage of profit. they can't make 5000% profit but maybe only 50%. In the USA they still follow free market strongly so there are no limits on profits, that in my opinion results in price raping because it's financial rape)

I'm under one of the best private insurance policies. Medications cost only $1, it's all paid for by the insurance policy (which is then paid for by the government cuz it's a government job that got this policy) and you just pay the packaging fee ($1). My dad is financially retarded so he pays like $20 for the pharmacist to put it in little pop out packets instead of sorting it himself. idiot.

I'm Canadian so some of you may be asking why we pay? well health care here isn't all private. There are still the public and private sector and in my case the private provides better than the public system at not too much higher of a price.

I'll be covered until I'm 21 or 25 if I'm still in school.

Long rant, well in the end it's all about profits, there are no limits and not enough regulation on the big corporations that make ludicrous profits in the first place,

[Korashk]

In the USA they still follow free market strongly so there are no limits on profits, that in my opinion results in price raping because it's financial rape)
This is the result of gross misinformation. The most profitable pharmaceutical company in America only boasts a profit margin of 17%, and America is nowhere near free market levels. That industry is one of the most regulated in existence.

[Sogeking]

Because the pharmaceutical industry is one of, if not thee, most corrupt industries in all the world. It consists of government-backed monopolies primarily concerned with profit - not your health. They have the FDA on their side, as well; and the APA, which releases their book of nonsense "diseases" (the DSM). Then there's the insurance companies.

All of it is designed to get you to pop their pills for every little ache and sore you have. Depressed? Take this. Back ache? Take that.

The whole industry is a racket, and they make huge profits off convincing everyone they need drugs to get by; and since they're in bed with government, there's no competition to lower prices. The lack of competition and the high demand equal high prices. But both facts are systematically altered by the industrial-complexes of the world so as to create greater profit.

That is basically why your dad's pill costs 20 freakin' dollars.

You remind me of this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Trudeau) fellow right here.

But yeah, I agree with you.

[jacknife]

This is the result of gross misinformation. The most profitable pharmaceutical company in America only boasts a profit margin of 17%, and America is nowhere near free market levels. That industry is one of the most regulated in existence.
Yes. The myth of America's free market system is pervasive. American industries are heavily regulated, but often the laws are not enforced on those in bed with government (i.e., those who write the regulations). Often, too, any deregulation that does take place - despite being under the guise of "freedom" - really only empowers the privileged to further take advantage of their position; especially over international labor markets (NAFTA, CAFTA, etc.)

You remind me of this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Trudeau) fellow right here.

But yeah, I agree with you.
lol. Not too sure I'm familiar with that guy. As with any belief, it is possible for a salesman to market and profit off it. I won't speak for his intentions, but I certainly have no intentions of beginning an infomercial series. :P

[joeyjorulz]

my mum had breast cancer...doc prescribed a 6 day course of pills @ $30k each (covered by medical insurance)

[AllThatYouDreamed]

Aren't pharmaceuticals over there subsidized by the government, lowering the cost?

...Holy shit. Guys, for comparison a lira is about 0.50 USD or 0.35 GBP
Just so we're all on the same page of currency.

Hm. US also can do a lot of markup because insurance companies are expected to make the difference - despite that not everyone can afford/is elligable for insurance.

[botwa]

The thing is also about the quality of life, about the salaries. The medicaments in Russia don't cost that much too. 20$ per pack is considered to be expensive. There are medicaments imported from other countries, Germany and Switzerland mainly and they cost more than national analogues but not that much.
the average salary in my home region is 750$ so people can't afford spending so much money on medicaments. but they need them. the government regulates the prices a lot, in drug-stores we have special lists of medicaments with the allowed maximum prices. and it's up to every drug-store to choose whether to sell for the maximum price or make something cheaper.
I guess sometimes medicaments for the animals cost more than similar for people. I remember buying 20 ml of medication for my cat for 40$. and it was really expensive. but luckily it saved his life.

[tHe_Jester1080]

I think there is multiple reasons for the high cost of medication. One is the obvious in that it did cost millions for research, lab and human testing, to re-create the pills, and to pay the workers who test the medicine for years. The second reason is that they know you will pay for it because you need it. The last reason is that they rely on you having insurance. When I had pink eye, the cost of 5 days worth of moxafloxacin was $105 before insurance and only $7 after.