Many doctors
have patients that are not able to manage the expense of drugs prescribed to
them. The sad truth is that some of these patients end up in the emergency
department with an exacerbation of their illness or condition because they
could not afford their medicines and therefore did not take them. Providers,
having a responsibility to care for patients, cannot ignore this problem.
Controversial relationships created by drug company representatives, outrageous
expenses for advertisements of public policy, and outlandish executive
compensation are driving healthcare costs up and providers cannot merely ignore
or accept these factors. It's easy to fall into the trap of wanting to
patronize someone who's buying you lunch or giving you new pencils, but this
can put patients at a great disadvantage. For example, when a physician
prescribes medications of questionably better efficacy (name brand drugs) that
are more costly than generic drugs, just because they choose to support the drug
rep who brings them breakfast once per week, this is not good for the patient.
Prices of
some top-selling prescription medications have increased astronomically in a
short span of time. For instance, 60 Minutes reported about the rise in the
price of Gleevec, a cancer drug from Novartis, that rose to $90,000 per year from
$24,000 per year. What could have caused such a leap? Bloomberg Business
reports that some top-selling prescription drugs have increased as much as 841%
over the past seven years. Are you aware that after the FDA approves a drug,
Medicare is legally mandated to pay the drug company's asking price? Picture
the lobbying that was behind that legislation!
What do
you think of the increasing costs of prescription drugs? What is your
alternative? Let us know!
No comments:
Post a Comment