Our happy pills are getting more expensive.
U.S. branded drug prices soar as generic pressure rises
U.S. prices for brand-name drugs are rising faster than ever as patents expire on top-selling medicines and the pharmaceutical industry nervously eyes the future of healthcare reform.
Prices for the 15 best-selling drugs rose by much higher rates in 2010 than they did in each of the last five years, according to exclusive data from Thomson Reuters MarketScan, which measured the average cost of a daily dose as shown in medical claims data.
Two thirds of the drugs saw double-digit price hikes, well above inflation of 1.6 percent in 2010 measured by the consumer price index. The analysis indicates drug makers are scrambling to make as much money as possible from blockbuster drugs before their patents expire, while taking advantage of the fact that last year's healthcare reform bill did not cap drug prices.
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Insurers often get a discount on the list price -- but the fact that they are paying more for drugs is likely to push up the premiums they charge at a time when healthcare costs are already rising much faster than inflation.
"The price escalation is truly incredible," said Judy Cahill executive director the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy, a pharmacy trade group. She said that since drugs generally make up about 10 percent of medical spending, they are often not a top priority for cost-cutting.
Big Pharma likes to make up diseases and disorders which every single one of us will believe we suffer from at some point in our lives. And we will pay for it with our hard earned money or our worn out bodies.
Too many people believe that medicine will save our lives, when mostly the bad research, information and marketing don't care about your life, only their profit margins.
Yes, much good has come from some medical advances over the years, but greed took over.
We've been led to believe in miracle cures, happy pills and doctors know best. We need to listen to our own bodies, research our ailments, symptoms and practice more alternative ways to heal. If you don't care enough about yourself to do some leg work (research) on your own, why would you think somebody you don't know will?
What's that old saying? Oh yeah, If you don't love yourself, no one else will either.
A Quick Fix is lazy man medicine.