Every one is talking about different ways to reduce the cost of healthcare for individuals and the government. I, Phathead, have devised a simple solution that could save millions, if not billions, on a yearly basis.
Stop the copy cat drugs.
You're probably going, 'WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAA that's such a MIND BLOW." I know, right?
Seriously though, do we need an Aricept XR? Did we need a Coreg CR? Was there a legit need for Nexium to come out right as Prilosec was going off patent?*
Soon the ads will start and doctors will start prescribing because since it has XR (or CR or HD or whatever the hell else you want after it) it has to be better! And at 200% the price of the old product, that doubles it's effectiveness!
That's where the Lipitor HD post came from. There's no reason it exists except to make more money. It's not our fault Pfizer or Merck or whoever has few drugs in their pipeline. They should not, however, be allowed to take advantage of patients who can barely remember to take their medication, yet alone understand how it works.
If the APhA really wants to help patients, why not start a grassroots campaign to educate consumers of this fact? How much shelf space and inventory costs can you save if you no longer have to stock these useless items?
And it's simple. Truly, and utterly simple. But no one has the gonads to stand up and say stop.
Hell, maybe Lipitor HD isn't too far off the cuff after all...
*Note, I realize that there are some drugs that are more beneficial when Big Pharma pulls something like this. I also know that there are many that are not.
1 comment:
Agree, some of these are improvements. Most are not.
Pfizer will argue they need to do this to pay for the next generation of drugs. Who knows?
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