MAINE VOICES: Richard C. Dillihunt

Prescription drug costs now a national scandal

Copyright © 2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

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About the Author Richard C. Dillihunt, M.D., is a resident of Portland. His e-mail is dillihunt8@aol.com To top of story

The real drug wars are not being waged in the mountains of Columbia or the poppy fields of Afghanistan.

They are being fought at home. They are the constant, ever-worsening, economically devastating costs of prescription drugs.

Scan any newspaper to find an article on the high and rising costs of medications. Stand near the pickup window of your pharmacy to learn how this affects everyday Americans.

"Shock and awe" can be found right here on Main Street. The sticker shock is palpable. Just watch the ads on the evening news to learn of the abundance of expensive drugs we should tell our doctors that we need.

Despite the volume of media stories and proposed solutions this problem has spawne, the situation only worsens.

Especially hard hit, the elderly have seen no relief, just ever-spiraling costs which far outstrip reason - in a group of citizens especially prone to requiring expensive drugs to survive.

Now comes a complex, little-understood Medicare Pharmacy Benefit Card, which affords little relief, only confusion. This program has the objectionable odor of heavy lobbying by the drug industry.

In addition to being some- where between difficult and impossible to interpret by seniors, its benefits were largely eliminated by a surge in drug prices a few months before its inception. Isn't this the drug industry's method of offsetting this law?

The situation regarding reimportation of drugs from Canada doesn't merely have a bad odor - it plain outright stinks. The flimsy argument by the FDA that reimportation should be banned because of potential introduction of counterfeit products would be laughable if this were a laughing matter.

Nobody seemed to worry that our favorite Canadian whiskey is potentially counterfeit.

My own experience is vivid. I was recently prescribed a medication for a simple skin condition. The prescription seemed pricey, so I looked into the details - and came away stunned. The ointment cost $77.10 for 50 grams.

The active ingredient is a 0.05 percent concentration, the rest is just inexpensive filler. One calculates that the active ingredient costs $3.1 million per kilogram or $1.4 million per pound - disregarding the (negligible) cost of inactive ingredients. How can this be ?

Recently, a family member made a night visit to a nearby hospital for care of a respiratory infection. She was prescribed an antibiotic costing $10 a pill at a local pharmacy for 10 days. Later the hospital bill came and a single starter pill of the same antibiotic dispensed in the emergency room cost her $36.19 - this done as a courtesy because drug stores were closed.

Please - go easy on the "courtesies." A simple Internet check revealed this same medication to be available in Canada for $5.30 each. Can a 700 percent price difference be real? And the Canadian seller still profits at $5.30 each.

Another comparison was made regarding nasal sprays. Mine cost $2 per dose here, but it's 20 cents per dose in Canada - a 1,000 percent difference.. One cannot help but squeeze the dispenser very lightly at $2 a squirt.

It's easy to find such examples, but how can we fight these huge miscarriages of socioeconomic justice? Let's list a few options:

n Ask your doctor what a prescription costs, and if a less expensive version is available.

n Ask for a small amount of a new prescription as a trial before committing to a large supply.

n Always ask for generics.

n Call a few pharmacies for the lowest price.

n Check the Internet for lowest prices in the United States.

n Inquire about a source in Canada - your doctor will know. The Internet contains many.

n If you take large quantities of a medication, inquire about bulk discounts.

n Ask about getting larger-size scored pills and break them for proper doseage.

n Write a letter to your representative or senator every time you get an outrageous refill.

n Bring your current mediction list to doctors visits to see if any can be reduced or stopped.

n When the drug ads are shown on the evening news, hit the mute button and take a nap.

Unfortunately this war rages on, and we are losing this battle. We need to keep plugging or we will all be broke.

- Special to the Press Herald

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