Originally posted in July 2006. Inflation has increased in the interim, so I suspect that some of the comparison prices are now invalid.
The amount of money required to obtain one month’s worth of the antidepressant fluoxetine (trade name: Prozac) can buy:
- one Snicker’s candy bar (from a downtown Seattle vending machine)
- two first-class postage stamps
- Fifty-four minutes of street parking in downtown Seattle during business hours
- ($0.03 for one 20-milligram tab = $0.90 for one month)
The amount of money required to obtain one month’s worth of the antidepressant bupropion (sustained release) (trade name: Wellbutrin), which can also be used to facilitate smoking cessation (trade name: Zyban) can buy:
- 21 pounds of Washington-grown Red Delicious apples
- 30 songs from iTunes
- A seven-week daily subscription to The New York Times
- ($1.16 for one 150-milligram tab = $34.80 for one month)
The amount of money required to obtain one month’ worth of the antidepressant paroxetine (trade name: Paxil) can buy:
- About eight gallons of unleaded gasoline (at one of the cheaper stations in Seattle)
- A little over two pounds of Starbucks House Blend coffee (whole bean or ground)
- 243 Verizon mobile phone text messages
- ($0.81 for one 20-mg tab = $24.30 for one month)
The amount of money required to obtain one month’s worth of the antipsychotic olanzapine (trade name: Zyprexa) can buy:
- Three yearly subscriptions to The New Yorker
- Over 50 McDonald’s Big Mac burgers
- 32 gallons (two kegs) of Budweiser beer
- ($5.69 for one 10-mg tab = $170.70 for one month)
(Note: Medication prices listed here are approximations only and are likely cheaper than that at other hospitals due to the population this particular facility primarily serves.)
And frequently the people who could benefit the most from these medications are the ones who cannot afford to pay even a tiny fraction of the price.
When will it stop being about profit?
8 Mar 2008 |
Don’t they have students read Atlas Shrugged in school anymore? Who in the world are you to question their business practices, especially given the millions of dollars that must be spent to get through the FDA’s odious, corrupt approval process? If a consumer (you), do not approve of a product (drug X) then you are quite free to not purchase that product. No one has a gun to your head. If the company does not make profit, they do not make more drugs. If they do not make more drugs, then shrinks actually might have to do something other than write scripts for the latest, greatest reuptake inhibitor.
Comment by wealthandtaste | 8 Mar 2008 @ 10:42pm
Your comparison choices are very interesting, and they provide some cultural points of reference. Not knowing your area, I’d like to suggest possible cost comparisons with the following:
a month’s cost of food stamps for a single parent of two children
a month’s cost of fresh, inseason, locally grown fruits and vegetables (your choice)
a month mass transit unlimited use pass
a month’s average heating home fuel cost
the cost of a basic coat
the cost of a basic pair of work shoes
the cost of a gallon of milk
Comment by Annie | 9 Mar 2008 @ 7:18am
It won’t ever stop being for profit simply because of attitudes like that of the first commentor! I am very lucky to get samples of seroquel…the one med that is not covered by my insurance!
Comment by Fallen Angels | 9 Mar 2008 @ 10:31am
I am a bit flabbergasted by that first poster. There are many, many insurance policies that cover almost any drug you can think of, including the one that I have. Why SHOULDN’T everyone’s health care coverage be good enough to get the medications they need? ESPECIALLY if they’re very poor, and need the medications to be able to eventually find themselves in better financial situations (when they are able to work and function in society, etc).
People like you astound me. And not in a good way.
Comment by Niika | 9 Mar 2008 @ 2:35pm
At $180 per month, with my current habit, I’d say the wellbutrin is a pretty good deal.
Joking and personal info aside, a lot of innovation happens because of the ability to profit. Yes, there are a lot of people who would do the work without thought of personal gain either to help their fellow human, or for the joy of doing what they love. But the money to have the tools available to do this has to come from somewhere. Someone or some company has to fund the inspired work and that won’t come unless the entity doing the funding can benefit in some way. To investors, this is money.
It can effectively be argued this is morally wrong, but it is the reality. I don’t think this will ever change.
In the light of that, what really needs to happen is a more comprehensive way of caring for those that cannot afford the care they need. Should drug companies be forced to provide a certian amount based on the price or how much they sell? Or perhaps not limiting a Doctor’s ability to prescribe something based on price when it is for someone who is being assisted financially? Or providing some easily obtainable form of assistance without a lot of red tape? (not all meds of course, some should have a good bit of red tape). Or is it simply education about what help is already available?
A thousand questions and no easy answers.
Comment by Jese | 9 Mar 2008 @ 4:06pm
Wait, I should have to pay higher insurance premiums to cover the cost of your chronic illness, when I have no such illnesses? There’s a reason that men/women and smoker/non-smoker have different insurance rates. Insurance is not some divine gift that everyone has a “right” to, it is a contract between two parties, and you are free to not sign up for an insurance company that you feel is not a good fit for you.
And I really don’t understand statements such as “caring for those that cannot afford the care they need”… Seems awfully familiar to “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need” and I hardly see folks clamoring to return to Soviet healthcare. When you say that you have a right to health care, what you are claiming is a right to take a gun, point it at my head, and force me to give you my time and labor for no compensation. I’m a paramedic, and by EMTALA I am forced to render services for which my company will receive little to no compensation. The average ER doc gives away >100K each year, and I suspect that the compensation for Intueri is similarly bad. People no more have a right to a physician’s time or a researcher’s drug than they have a right to a grocer’s food, a cobbler’s shoes, or anyone else’s justly earned property.
Comment by wealthandtaste | 9 Mar 2008 @ 5:13pm
Oh, I see why comments are sometimes disabled now..
scary.
Comment by lynnc | 9 Mar 2008 @ 11:54pm