Like most folks my age, my doctor has prescribed several medicines for me. I have suffered from asthma most all my life, and something about pecan trees and mountain cedar seem to make the condition more unbearable. I use a daily inhaler as well as a rescue inhaler when I have a flareup.
Taking medications is something that is becoming more and more prevalent in America. There were $582 billion worth of pharmaceutical drugs sold in the U.S. in 2017, and by 2023 the number had risen to $716 billion, an increase of 23% — an interesting number when one realizes the rest of the world increased its drug purchases by a mere 2% during the same period. Are Americans that sickly or are we simply the victims of a self-serving industry?
This past week my prescriptions ran out and I had to reach out to my physician to get them renewed. Before I could get a new script, I was informed I would need to make an appointment with the doctor. I was then advised I needed to have blood work completed before the appointment.
I had been using the prescribed medications for years and though this seemed like a lot of hoops to go through, I reasoned it was all for a good purpose: I had not been to the doctor in a year, I am getting older, and it makes sense to get checked. It even makes sense to have blood work done to detect an ongoing or upcoming problem. But all of this seemed like a lot of time and expense just to get a prescription renewed for a drug I had used for years.
After checking all the boxes at the doctor’s office, I got my prescription and headed to the same pharmacy that had filled my prescription on previous occasions. My medicine had previously cost about $160 for a month’s supply, certainly pricy but at least the drug is effective. After handing over the prescription, the drug store employee told me the cost would be $450, a significant increase from the $160 I had paid the month before. In hopes of finding some economic relief, I showed them the app on my phone which indicated the pharmacy would sell the product for the $160 figure which I had previously paid. Fortunately, I also noticed that the app indicated the pharmacy across the street would sell the product for $95! The app also indicated some of the pharmacies in my area wanted far more than $160. How lucky was I to notice that? I told the druggist to send my prescription across the street to the second pharmacy and I headed out the door to pick up my prescription and save $65 dollars.
Upon arrival at the second place, the staffer confirmed my prescription could be filled for $95 but then told me they were out of the medicine I needed. They checked and their warehouse was also out, and they did not have any idea when the medicine would be available.
As I stood at the pharmacy window my breathing was labored, and I decided lower price or not, I needed my meds. I instructed the second pharmacy to send the prescription back to the first pharmacy and I would suffer paying the higher price. I did not feel like I could wait for who knows how long before the medicine was restocked.
Upon my return to the first pharmacy, I no more than got up to the window to pick up my prescription when I got a text from the second pharmacy indicating my prescription had been filled and was ready for pickup. How could that be? They had just told me they did not have any of the medication in inventory. Was the text a mistake?
Not wanting to leave a stone unturned in my efforts to save cash, I made the trek back to the second pharmacy where my prescription was in fact, filled. I got it for the price of $95. Where did the medication come from? The pharmacy had just told me they were out and had no idea when they would be resupplied.
I walked out the door with my prescription, though confused, conflicted and shaking my head about the entire process.
According to Open Seats cited by NBC News, last year the pharmaceutical/health business spent $4.2 billion lobbying state and national legislators. It has been reported there are at least three dedicated lobbyists for each member of the U.S. Congress! God knows they are not lobbying to make things better or more efficient for consumers. Customer service, efficiency, competition and uniformity in pricing fall by the wayside, all while Americans are prescribed more and more medications. In the meantime, the drug companies continue to make billions, and the U.S. consumer pays.
All this is enough to make you sick.
Thought for the day: Price is what you pay, value is what you get.
Until next time ... I will keep ridin’ the storm out!
