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Until we get rid of this current "insurance" system, I would like to see every doctor know the prices of Rx drugs. Then when they say, you need to take this drug, twice a day, and it is going to cost $xxx.xx amount of money, will that be a problem for you? So many docs are shocked when you tell them how much a drug costs. And it is only good medical practice to know if there is going to be anything keeping your patient from following your instructions.
I thought this sounded familiar.
It seems the new insulin is spelled Lantus, not Lantis. It runs around $300 a vial, so my figure of $1,200 a month was exaggerated.
Instead of rationing insulin, diabetics should have their doctor prescribe the old-fashioned Type N or Type R (or 30/70), depending on what works for them. $25 a vial at Walmart, which has a special deal with Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer.
Type I is different than type II diabetes and usually more severe and less controllable. If he was on one of the more modern forms there was probably a reason for it.
No this is a new one. Published: 7:19 PM CDT July 12, 2019
Updated: 1:54 PM CDT July 13, 2019
Quote:
Originally Posted by VTsnowbird
Until we get rid of this current "insurance" system, I would like to see every doctor know the prices of Rx drugs. Then when they say, you need to take this drug, twice a day, and it is going to cost $xxx.xx amount of money, will that be a problem for you? So many docs are shocked when you tell them how much a drug costs. And it is only good medical practice to know if there is going to be anything keeping your patient from following your instructions.
Agree 100%
I also wish congress would do something about profits these companies make. They should only be able to mark up a drug so much
I have to wonder, as someone else has asked, if his doctor knew about his financial situation. Many drug companies have patient assistance programs, and it is possible that he could have gotten whatever product he was using free.
I assure you that doctors are very aware of the cost of medications. They do have to be informed if someone is having a problem paying for meds, though.
I thought this sounded familiar.
It seems the new insulin is spelled Lantus, not Lantis. It runs around $300 a vial, so my figure of $1,200 a month was exaggerated.
Instead of rationing insulin, diabetics should have their doctor prescribe the old-fashioned Type N or Type R (or 30/70), depending on what works for them. $25 a vial at Walmart, which has a special deal with Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer.
It is $25 a vial which is the perfect amount for my 25 pound dog which get 15 cm twice a day. A person would need a truckload of vials for a month. The Novo is unstable compared to the new formulas.
There was another death posted here within the last year. I thought the thread was bumped with updated info and am sad to see another very young adult has died due to not being able to afford it.
In your article, one of the mothers who also lost her son had tried to pass the Alec Smith emergency insulin act but is getting no where. After hertfordshire posted the link to the other kid that died last year, I see it's the mother of that kid trying to start the emergency fund.
Years ago a good friend of mine turned 26 and needed to go off of her parents insurance. One of her key medications cost $800 a month. That was totally out of the question for someone making minimum wage. Six months later the affordable care act started and she was able to get insurance that paid all but $25 of her medication. Luckily, being off that medication for six months didn'treally hurt her, as she had "saved up" some pills and was able to get some free samples from her doctor so it was not off "cold turkey".
I personally know a number of elderly people who can't afford their medications.
So now healthy people under the same insurance company have to pay higher premiums so she has her $800 a month medicine. That’s why insurance is not the answer to our problems. It does nothing to address the absurd cost of healthcare just shifting around who pays for it. All the countries touted for their universal healthcare systems have low cost structure due to operating their own hospitals, doctors having lower salaries and also no or low student debt, and having strict controls on lawsuits. None of that applies in the U.S. as lawsuits and malpractice insurance adds 30% to the cost of medical care, so many layers of bureaucracy on a local, state and federal prevent anything from being done efficiently and infrastructure is just so expensive. A hospital that would cost $40 million to build anywhere else winds up costing $500 million in the U.S.
One area where we should be importing is cheap drugs from Canada and other countries. If U.S. pharmaceutical companies are not serving us we have to look elsewhere. We don’t want the government forcing pharmaceutical companies to make and sell drugs for cheap (that’s wrong. Freedom of business and pricing is a fundamental right). We want the freedom to buy from the global marketplace and not have pharmaceutical companies unfairly lobby Congress to keep out competition by banning importation of drugs or making it difficult to do so.
It is $25 a vial which is the perfect amount for my 25 pound dog which get 15 cm twice a day. A person would need a truckload of vials for a month. The Novo is unstable compared to the new formulas.
Insulin is measured in units, not "cm".
One vial (10 milliliters) contains 1000 units. An adult human would indeed need more than your 25 pound dog.
"Novo" is not "unstable". The difference between it and the new insulins lies in how long it takes to work and how long the duration of effect is.
It is $25 a vial which is the perfect amount for my 25 pound dog which get 15 cm twice a day. A person would need a truckload of vials for a month. The Novo is unstable compared to the new formulas.
I take it you mean 15 units, not cc's. A vial is 10 cc. Still, 30 units a day for a 25-pound dog is hard to believe. I suspect it's really 1.5 units.
The largest human dose I've heard of is 60 units a day. At 1000 units in a vial, the vial would last 16 days and the patient would require two vials a month, 24 a year, $600 a year buying at Walmart.
I've never heard that Novolin is unstable. I keep it on my bathroom sink during the month I'm using it and have no problems. They distribute and keep Lantus under refrigeration, just like Novolin.
Lantus supposedly gives a more even drug level throughout the day. If you eat big meals, you would have to inject Type R or even Humalog just before eating if you're using Novolin. I find it more convenient to eat less. It is standard to have the patient take insulin twice a day. (In fact, that was one of the Golden Rules of a well-respected Berkeley physician, the other being "Kill as few patients as possible -- dead men pay no bills.")
I'm not up on my insulin prices, as I'm not a diabetic, but I thought I'd check GoodRx for prices in Ramsey, MN. The ZIP Code is 55303, in case you want to do it.
For the Humulins, it's $96.75 per vial. For Novolog, $448 for 5 pens, $232 for a vial. Humalog 50/50 or 75/25 is $327.44 for 5 pens, $178 for a vial. Lantus is $199 a vial.
You might be able to get an older insulin cheaply at Walmart, but that doesn't mean it will be appropriate for your diabetes. It's what we used to get for our diabetic cat, actually. If I recall correctly, it was Humulin, and it was really cheap.
I used Wal-mart insulin for a dog and yes it was cheap but not very effective in controlling the issue. Luckily they reintroduced the dog insulin shortly after his diagnosis. While it was more expensive he did have better results. And this was a dog; why wouldn't a human try to get the best medicine for his/her condition rather than getting effective medication?
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