Generic Prescript. costs = Name Brand...huh? (Read 1195 times)

Trent


Good Bad & The Monkey

    Well, golf trips are no longer happening, to be sure, but they sure used to, and not all that long ago.

     

    That lunch, however, cost the drug company something.  That cost has to be covered somehow.  Am I supposed to believe that, at any level, those dollars don't originate from the consumers?

     

    But the bigger issue is, as above, influencing prescribers to prescribe more expensive options that are not more effective.


    Feeling the growl again

      Well, golf trips are no longer happening, to be sure, but they sure used to, and not all that long ago.

       

      That lunch, however, cost the drug company something.  That cost has to be covered somehow.  Am I supposed to believe that, at any level, those dollars don't originate from the consumers?

       

      But the bigger issue is, as above, influencing prescribers to prescribe more expensive options that are not more effective.

      the money comes from consumers with the same directness as your salary and your salary has a more direct effect on their end cost. N otall rep conversations server the purpose you describe. I am sure some do.

      "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

       

      I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

       

      Trent


      Good Bad & The Monkey

        your salary has a more direct effect on their end cost.

         

        If only this were true.  The vase majority of healthcare costs these days do not go to the primary care physician, but rather cover costs for subspecialty care, testing, medications and administration.

        Trent


        Good Bad & The Monkey

          the money comes from consumers

           

          Yes.  With the problem that the consumer has little choice in the equation.  The consumer cannot choose between levaquin and amoxicillin.  The consumer is handcuffed to the prescription the prescriber provides.


          "run" "2" "eat"

            well, now. some people enjoy handcuffs, no?

            i find the sunshine beckons me to open up the gate and dream and dream ~~robbie williams


            Feeling the growl again

              If only this were true.  The vase majority of healthcare costs these days do not go to the primary care physician, but rather cover costs for subspecialty care, testing, medications and administration.

               

              ItIs true. My hospital bill docks me for time with the doc. If their pay hours up so do the charges. My point is that regardless of whether lunches go on or not the price of the drug will not be affected.

              "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

               

              I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

               

              Trent


              Good Bad & The Monkey

                ItIs true. My hospital bill docks me for time with the doc. If their pay hours up so do the charges. My point is that regardless of whether lunches go on or not the price of the drug will not be affected.

                 

                I need to go to work at your hospital.

                 

                Yes, I agree; it is unfortunate that when drug companies reduced the dollars they spent with direct-to-doctor advertising, they did not put those savings back into reducing the charge fore the drugs.


                Feeling the growl again

                  I need to go to work at your hospital.

                   

                  Yes, I agree; it is unfortunate that when drug companies reduced the dollars they spent with direct-to-doctor advertising, they did not put those savings back into reducing the charge fore the drugs.

                   

                  Plowing those savings into R and D on the next generation of drugs hardly seems a travesty to me. You seen pretty bought into the standard media soundbite on this but if you would open your mind and seek to learn and understand over a beer sometime I think you would be very surprised. I pay the high costs too. The tradeoff I remind myself is that while it is hard at the time because the rewards justified its development in a few years it will be at a far reduced price...forever. If that incentive goes away so does development.in not too many years now there will be a whole flood of generics in the big diseases and a lot of savings will be had. There will be generic options for almost everything it seems.that is a good thing but all that innovation had to be paid for.

                  "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                   

                  I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                   

                  Trent


                  Good Bad & The Monkey

                    I suspect that the dollars do not go back into R&D.  And while I appreciate your attention to the influence the press has, I have held these views since long before the press and professional medical societies took on the issue.  And much of drug company expenses do not go towards innovation, but rather towards market share.  Do we really need 5 PPIs and 4 H1Bs?  Really?  Do we really need 5 different non-sedating antihistamines?  Where is the innovation in that?

                    zoom-zoom


                    rectumdamnnearkilledem

                      Do we really need 5 different non-sedating antihistamines?

                       

                      Heh, since Zyrtec is the only one of the lot that works for me, I'm inclined to say yes on that one. Tongue

                      Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

                      remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                           ~ Sarah Kay

                      Trent


                      Good Bad & The Monkey

                        Heh, since Zyrtec is the only one of the lot that works for me, I'm inclined to say yes on that one. Tongue

                         

                        A world with loratidine has no need for desloratidine.

                        zoom-zoom


                        rectumdamnnearkilledem

                          A world with loratidine has no need for desloratidine.

                           

                          Ha, since loratidine doesn't work for me, I'd be cool with neither existing.

                          Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

                          remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                               ~ Sarah Kay


                          Feeling the growl again

                            I suspect that the dollars do not go back into R&D.  And while I appreciate your attention to the influence the press has, I have held these views since long before the press and professional medical societies took on the issue.  And much of drug company expenses do not go towards innovation, but rather towards market share.  Do we really need 5 PPIs and 4 H1Bs?  Really?  Do we really need 5 different non-sedating antihistamines?  Where is the innovation in that?

                             

                            I am not sure which disappoints me more...seeing someone typically very rational and data oriented pursue a rabid opinion based on cherry picked anecdotes, information on practices outdated years ago, and raw assumptions on topics with which you have no personal background our knowledge, or the fact that you know me personally and don't have the decency to assume I am being straight with you.

                            "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                             

                            I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                             

                            Trent


                            Good Bad & The Monkey

                              I know you are being straight with me AND I would happily drink that beer with you. Smile

                                I'm waiting to see how the generic Concerta plays out before switching anything up too.  The drug is the same, but Concerta's delivery system is fairly intricate.  Secondhand / antecdotal stories seem to indicate the generic may not be delivering as well/smoothly.

                                Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but ...

                                 

                                I recently spent a good bit of time on the phone with the fine folks at Watson Pharmaceuticals, listed as the "manufacturer" of generic Concerta, as well as Johnson & Johnson, wending my way through their network to get someone at their Ortho-McNeil-Janssen pharma group.  I then got them to conference all three of us together.  A conversation ensued; I asked precise questions and, like any lawyer, I wasn't hesitant to point out when an answer didn't exactly address my question.  The outcome:

                                 

                                Generic Concerta and branded Concerta are the same drug.  For any particular dose (say, 27mg): one oblong cylindrical pill is made; it contains methylphenidate and Janssen's "patented" OROS time-release polymeric technology; it is grey; it has ALZA 27 imprinted on one side; and those pills are bulk-packaged.  If it's destined to hit the market as branded CONCERTA, Janssen routes the bulk packages internally.  If it's destined to be on the market as the licensed generic, the bulk packages are shipped to Watson.  Watson has NOTHING to do with the manufacture of the generic pills, despite being listed on the pharmacy label as the manufacturer; all Watson does is (exclusively) market it.  There is no difference in how the the methylphenidate is distributed within the pill generally or within the OROS portion in particular.

                                 

                                I didn't ask if they made them at more than one site or where the site(s) were, for fear they'd clam up on me.  But they were emphatic that the pills are identical: they make a single version of the pill and ship it to one of two different places, depending on its marketing fate.

                                "I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."

                                -- Dick LeBeau