Why are so many (legal) drugs in short supply? Because a cartel of pharmaceutical middlemen have rigged the market to ensure shortages.
Monopolies/oligopolies are killing people, deliberately, and the law -- including the lawmakers in Congress -- keeps letting them get away with it.
https://prospect.org/health/2024-04-17-our-uniquely-american-drug-shortages/
@dangillmor Biden needs to declare that the lack of readily available drugs affects defense readiness in an EO. Then, he needs to give a 30 day notice that if production is not increased, he will invoke the Defense Production Act.
At the same time, he needs to have the FDA examine which of these drugs were developed with taxpayer money and transfer their patent to the government and send out an RFP for production.
@dangillmor
Over here in Ao/NZ we have an agency called Pharmac that negotiates pricing and purchases generics if appropriate for supply to medical and by extension the populace...
They are under constant political attack by the USA pharmaceutical industry up to and including threats of legal action under a variety of trade agreements.
Globally pervasive and very damaging and the only benefit I can see is that it keeps the business costs up thus reducing the return to the shareholder...
@dangillmor I've been arguing this same exact thing for ADHD meds. It was way too much of a coincidence that the alleged Vyvanse shortage happened at the same time that their patent ran out. Generics *should* be cheap and available. Instead, I've had to pay full price out of pocket for the name brand, because what I needed in a generic was nowhere to be found. So instead of $30 a month, it was as much as $400.
Fuck these sociopaths.
@eighthourlunch
The 3 digit number is a lie being told by the pharmacy & manufacturer. The legitimate price for lisdexamfetamine is 2 digits. Yes, prescription drug prices are the biggest scam in the country. (some people do end up paying the 3-digit prices)
Does modafinil (a stimulant I take) cost $800? Or $26? I'm in luck, my insurance now says it's $7. (That's my actual cost, the insurance paid zero)
This hilarious video scratches the surface a bit:
https://youtu.be/5rw4kNHNZyk?feature=shared
@mwshook @eighthourlunch @dangillmor
So the $450 I just paid for my ADHD drugs because none of the 8 pharmacies I called or the mail order service had the generic so I had to get the name brand, which my insurance puts in a different ‘tier of coverage’. . . That $450 is a figment of my imagination?
(Note that, in addition, only 3 of the pharmacies I called even had the brand name in the needed dosage.)
Just because you are lucky in the combination of drug/insurance/pharmacy you happen to have, doesn’t mean the rest of us aren’t dealing with a completely messed up situation. This isn’t fiction.
Yes, if there wasn’t a shortage and my regular prescription could actually be filled, I would only pay $35 out of pocket. But that’s the point. Both I and the insurance company are being forced to pay more because there isn’t enough of the generic being produced.
@DrKylara
No, I'm sorry, I totally did not mean it was a figment of your imagination; a pharmacy will definitely charge you that much.
I mean that the pharmacy, pharma co, and insurance will collude to pretend that a $7 drug costs $800. The "fiction" is when the pharmacy tells you "your insurance saved you $793."
Not having coverage and paying $800 is all too real
I totally hear you. My wife and son take vyvanse and we deal with this shit on a rolling basis.
@DrKylara
The manufacturer blames the DEA for not allowing enough to be made, the DEA blames the manufacturer.
Meanwhile we scramble to find a 19 day supply, or 3 days. Hopefully it's at a pharmacy in network and oops, it's the version with a capital letter that magically costs 10 times as much.
It's hard not to be mad about this all the time.
I'm going to edit my previous reply to be more clear.
@eighthourlunch @dangillmor
@dangillmor that’s what happens when the Govt. turns a blind eye to any number of consolidations resulting in a very few companies controlling an entire market. There should be a law if any merger/buyout will cause the new monster to control more than 10% of a market, it is automatically disallowed
@dangillmor capitalism (really all economic systems) start to fail when they become frauds, and collapse totally when they become death cults. Jim Jones. Idi Amin. Pol Pot. Soviet Union. Blink-182. MAGA. WE ARE ON THE PRECIPICE.
@dangillmor not going to lie I am proud of that comment.
Why is the FTC not investigating monopolistic coercion of the marketplace?
If 90% of a product is sold by a mega-corp that bought out the others than this is price-fixing by a monopoly.
You think I care about a merger of Spirit airlines with whoever when I can't get a fucking saline drip when I need it because the middleman can't make an obscene profit margin off brokering the sale of something they didn't even produce?
Absolutely wild 15 years on from taking Concerta, I immedietely recognized the little shape and was like "I took that, it was great!"
@dangillmor watch some moon on youtube and jaketran
@dangillmor shortages in UK too
@nedhamson1 @dangillmor And Canada.
@dangillmor
And eugenics.
@Hawaii
@dangillmor Sorry but it is not an american only matter. Did you ear about today's crash of our french generic lab ( Biogaran ) and its foreseen sale to India ?
@dangillmor @dymaxion We have the same shortages in Europe. Producers of paracetamol even said they would stop fabrication. Some
months ago, the price on these
generics has doubled from 3$ to 6$ for 16 pills 500mg.