Cost of Copaxone went up again....

[lilrooster1976]

I don't know if it is true or not, but I was told that the generic of Copaxone was already developed. They are just waiting for the 14 year patent to drop off in 2014

[RoyalOne]

Everything goes up but not like that!

I'm calling this a game because it might put into perspective the high cost of Copaxone.

OKAY...

Comparing the cost of goods in 1999 to 2010.

Also please consider the value of our US dollar!
What did your average grocery bill come to in 1999, vs. 2010? I don't know about you, but mine has doubled.

Electric or Gas (energy) bill for your household? (Again the cost has at least doubled).

I am not saying it is great that the cost of this specialized drug had gone up, but does anyone seriously believe the companies that develop drugs don't have a right to profit?

If you develop or create something..say you do crafts...don't you need to realize a profit. I know this is simplistic, but again think of C as a complex and specialty designed drug. This is not a common medication such as aspirin. How many people take aspirin (or tylenol or advil...) compared to how many use C?

There is a tendency, in our country, to expect charity or handouts. Sure there is no doubt we all want some help with this expense, but really there is no obligation for that to happen.

A business relies on profit to grow and continue to develop and manufacture.

As volume increases the cost of a product can come down. However, in cases where volume remains static that rarely happens.

I put off a DMD for many years. The idea of the cost just repelled me. However, in recent years there are more programs for assistance and it is more possible to reduce the cost of the DMD.

I am thankful that is possible.

Diane

Just for the hell of it, I also compared my property tax bills comparing 1999 to today. It turns out they went up 60%. OK, everything goes up, but 60% is a far cry from 355%.
We can only hope that generic equivalents to these specialty drugs get developed and approved. Thats a lot harder to develop than standard pharmaceuticals. But if it were to happen then you should see the prices go down dramatically.
- Roy

[justacowgirl]

I have to agree with Diane..and I am very greatful for any assitance provided.

Justacowgirl

[DianeD]

A 'game' to help you understand

I'm calling this a game because it might put into perspective the high cost of Copaxone.

OKAY...

Comparing the cost of goods in 1999 to 2010.

Also please consider the value of our US dollar!
What did your average grocery bill come to in 1999, vs. 2010? I dont know about you, but mine has doubled.

Electric or Gas (energy) bill for your household? (Again the cost has at least doubled).

I am not saying it is great that the cost of this specialized drug had gone up, but does anyone seriously believe the companies that develop drugs don't have a right to profit?

If you develop or create something..say you do crafts...don't you need to realize a profit. I know this is simplistic, but again think of C as a complex and specialty designed drug. This is not a common medication such as aspirin. How many people take aspirin (or tylenol or advil...) compared to how many use C?

There is a tendency, in our country, to expect charity or handouts. Sure there is no doubt we all want some help with this expense, but really there is no obligation for that to happen.

A business relies on profit to grow and continue to develop and manufacture.

As volume increases the cost of a product can come down. However, in cases where volume remains static that rarely happens.

I put off a DMD for many years. The idea of the cost just repelled me. However, in recent years there are more programs for assistance and it is more possible to reduce the cost of the DMD.

I am thankful that is possible.

Diane

[lukeduke]

I tend to agree with you all on this. When I started taking Rebif if March 2007 it was a hair over $1650/month. I just got a new refill on the prescription and on the EOB it was a hair over $2650/month. Thankfully my insurance has changed how they handle "specialty" drugs so my copay is only $50/month now. It was hard and I had to get help from MS Lifelines when I first started and my copay was 20%.

[BrendaG]

Everytime I read about how much MS Medication cost I find it unreal. I too only qualify for $50., why? because I work 40 hours and have insurance thru my company. The catch is I have a cap of $20,000 that my company actually raised to help a few of us with chronic illnesses. With that said, within a year the cost of Copaxone went so far up that wasn't enough. I do my shot every other day for the last year (some is better than none is my thinking). I would max out my insurance in July if I did the shot daily. Am I to assume that these RX companies don't realize that we do have lives? Some of us thank the lord we still are able to work, we have house and car payments and living expenses, but almost $3000. a month we are suppose to come up with to increase our chances to continue to do these things by taking their medication? My own neurologist said "how could anyone afford the medication" so he understands and I'm sure he makes a heck of alot ore money than I do. So the $50.00 a month doesn't seem like a really sincere way to help when they are making at least $34,000 off each person who takes the medication daily.

[RoyalOne]

price of DMDs are out of control!

Hi All
The price of DMDs are out of control!
I dugout my old medical records.
In January 1999, the monthly retail price of Avonex was $743.24.
That price has been going gradually up and up. As of Jan 2010 the monthly retail price had ballooned to $2,638.58!
That's well over a three-fold or 355% increase!
I know other things have gone up but not like that!
My sense is that the same thing has been going on with the other DMDs. This begs the following question. Why were they able to produce the medications so "cheaply" 10+ years ago as opposed to now?
The whole thing seems so out of control!
- Roy

[justacowgirl]

Don't know what to tell you... I provided them with my incomes and my major bills like my mortgage etc and they took that all into account. They did not mention 70K to me...they mentioned 50K.

They were extremely helpful to me and I qualified for their assistance. I could not have paid $600 a month for the copay. I make no where near the income you do.


Justacowgirl

[lilrooster1976]

Lilrooster.......I have an approximately $600 copay..when I did the financial work for Shared Solutions they took into account no only my income and my husband's but monies that we paid monthly. It is not just your income that they consider.

Are you sure that you gave them all the information?

They pay my entire co pay.

I have an entirely different opinion of parmaceutical companies after having worked with Shared Solutions. They have no obligation to help me..but they do. I am very appreciative of the help. They are..after all in the business to make money.

I would try again.

Justacowgirl

When we did the paperwork and spoke with them the only thing they took into account was income, medical bills and my insurance premiums. They said nothing else matters to them except those 3 things and how many people live in the house.

They said if your gross income minus the above 3 things is above 70k then they can not help. We worked with them for a month trying to get assistance

[CasinoKathy]

Any increase is hard, especially when you have to pay it yourself!!

When I started on Beta- July of 2007, it cost $1,671 per month. I just went off of it last December and at that time it was alittle over $2,500 per month. Crazy huh!?! Thank goodness for insurance!

[justacowgirl]

Lilrooster.......I have an approximately $600 copay..when I did the financial work for Shared Solutions they took into account no only my income and my husband's but monies that we paid monthly. It is not just your income that they consider.

Are you sure that you gave them all the information?

They pay my entire co pay.

I have an entirely different opinion of parmaceutical companies after having worked with Shared Solutions. They have no obligation to help me..but they do. I am very appreciative of the help. They are..after all in the business to make money.

I would try again.

Justacowgirl

[lilrooster1976]

My dh and I are retired. We had a great plan when dh was working and we retired with it.

However, when the Government took over the company dh worked for they dumped us (all retired 'salaried' workers) leaving only the Union workers covered.

So.....since we were also turning 65 we had to rework our insurance plan. We pay as much for insurance monthly as you pay for C.

Life isn't fair is it.

As to the manufacturer dropping costs. Not likely.

Like it or not it costs a lot to develop 'specialized' drugs. The companies who do this spend a lot of money on development and studies.

We, MS'ers, are not all that many in the scheme of things. People who have cancer are much more vast in number and so a lot of research goes into that and possibly there are many more programs, grants to help.

However, we have a neighbor who takes a cancer drug that costs in the $50,000's of dollars (he's also retired).

I don't know the answer, but i like the phrase 'be careful what you ask for'. Incentive is what drives people to do research and development.

If people don't feel incentive to study and produce drugs we need, then we are left with nothing.

I think it would be a good idea, when you or I or anyone griping about cost of specialty meds, that we do some 'googling' to see what it has cost to develop the meds we use.

I'm like you. I wish that the meds were less expensive. 'Wishing don't make it so' my mom always said.

Diane

Diane I can only imagine how much that must suck having your insurance change. However I can relate, I also pay close to that for my premiums, plus i still have to cover the med co-pay.

I also have a son who is autistic and has ADHD, so I also incur the costs of his Dr and his meds, which again are not generic so I pay a pretty penny for them.

As to "googling" what Teva has spent on research for this drug.....Well it would appear that the research is done, as it is FDA approved and they had a 14 year patent on it. Not to mention the fact that the cost was only around $980 a few years ago and it is now over $3200.

I am not trying to start an argument, but really who else is there to grip to than our fellows who are going through the same thing?

[DianeD]

??!!**

My dh and I are retired. We had a great plan when dh was working and we retired with it.

However, when the Government took over the company dh worked for they dumped us (all retired 'salaried' workers) leaving only the Union workers covered.

So.....since we were also turning 65 we had to rework our insurance plan. We pay as much for insurance monthly as you pay for C.

Life isn't fair is it.

As to the manufacturer dropping costs. Not likely.

Like it or not it costs a lot to develop 'specialized' drugs. The companies who do this spend a lot of money on development and studies.

We, MS'ers, are not all that many in the scheme of things. People who have cancer are much more vast in number and so a lot of research goes into that and possibly there are many more programs, grants to help.

However, we have a neighbor who takes a cancer drug that costs in the $50,000's of dollars (he's also retired).

I don't know the answer, but i like the phrase 'be careful what you ask for'. Incentive is what drives people to do research and development.

If people don't feel incentive to study and produce drugs we need, then we are left with nothing.

I think it would be a good idea, when you or I or anyone griping about cost of specialty meds, that we do some 'googling' to see what it has cost to develop the meds we use.

I'm like you. I wish that the meds were less expensive. 'Wishing don't make it so' my mom always said.

Diane

[lilrooster1976]

Knuckle, my dr. sent me home last week with information on Rebif, he said I may want to consider switching over to it. I have only been on Copaxone for 10 months, but I just had a relapse.

Yeah it is costing my more than both my cars combined. It is sick that they would do that to people. Not sure if the Rebif would be any cheaper for me.

[knuckle]

$639 a month? Wow, that's a Ferrari payment (not that I could drive one anymore).

Think about Copaxone every-other-day as a small study showed it was just as effective once the drug built-up in your body. Or even every 3-4 days? If you've been taking Copaxone for years your body is swimming in it.

And seriously look into Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) as 1000s of people with MS take it with good results. Many take it in combination with Copaxone. LDN only costs $20 a month.

Visit www.LDNaware.org and start on the USA page, the "Resources" and "Forums" tabs.

If you click on UK page you will see that most MS organizations are now supporting LDN and over 700 physicians prescribe LDN.

Knuckle