This story is well done but it missed the biggest, Colchicine. The deriviative of the crocous flower, a natural drug which was first used in Egypt in 2000 BC. 4000 years ago, was given as a patent to one company who instantly began charging $161 for a script for one month that used to cost $3!!!! Unbelievable! This company has made billions off this one drug alone! And many gout sufferers cannot get their medicine which is the ONLY worthwhile treatment for acute attacks. I had to go to the an emergency room, and pay 121 dollar emergency room visit to get ten pills, which knocked out my attack in two days! And it saved me 40 dollars over getting the script filled my regular doctor had given me. I had no money for either, but the emergency room did not charge me to be seen, so it was my only option, to stick the hospital with a bill because our idiot government wanted to make one of their buddies richer!
I am a gout sufferer, and used to get my colchicine prescription for 3 dollars for a 60 day supply. Pharma, the drug company that has been given the patent now for colchicine is now selling it for 161 dollars per 30 days supply. This is driving many of us out of the market. I have insurance, but it now classifies it as a NAME BRAND PATENTED DRUG, instead of a generic, which means my copay is now 66 dollars, instead of the 11 for a generic. This is an insult to Americans who are barely surviving! My research shows the only testing Pharma did on the drug to get FDA approval was a 5000 dollar survey which asked gout sufferers if they got relief from the drug! I can find nothing else! Perhaps it exists but in this day of computer searches, it should not be hard to find and I cannot. The country needs to know someone has profited off the misery of others and it serves NO decent purpose! They have not even changed the chemical make up of the drug nor its dosage,it is identical the same makeup as I have been using for 30 plus years! .06 mg per dose.
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Colchicine
This story is well done but it missed the biggest, Colchicine. The deriviative of the crocous flower, a natural drug which was first used in Egypt in 2000 BC. 4000 years ago, was given as a patent to one company who instantly began charging $161 for a script for one month that used to cost $3!!!! Unbelievable! This company has made billions off this one drug alone! And many gout sufferers cannot get their medicine which is the ONLY worthwhile treatment for acute attacks. I had to go to the an emergency room, and pay 121 dollar emergency room visit to get ten pills, which knocked out my attack in two days! And it saved me 40 dollars over getting the script filled my regular doctor had given me. I had no money for either, but the emergency room did not charge me to be seen, so it was my only option, to stick the hospital with a bill because our idiot government wanted to make one of their buddies richer!
Patented formerly generic drugs
I am a gout sufferer, and used to get my colchicine prescription for 3 dollars for a 60 day supply. Pharma, the drug company that has been given the patent now for colchicine is now selling it for 161 dollars per 30 days supply. This is driving many of us out of the market. I have insurance, but it now classifies it as a NAME BRAND PATENTED DRUG, instead of a generic, which means my copay is now 66 dollars, instead of the 11 for a generic. This is an insult to Americans who are barely surviving! My research shows the only testing Pharma did on the drug to get FDA approval was a 5000 dollar survey which asked gout sufferers if they got relief from the drug! I can find nothing else! Perhaps it exists but in this day of computer searches, it should not be hard to find and I cannot. The country needs to know someone has profited off the misery of others and it serves NO decent purpose! They have not even changed the chemical make up of the drug nor its dosage,it is identical the same makeup as I have been using for 30 plus years! .06 mg per dose.