$1,000-a-pill Hepatitis drug in USA sells for less than $10 in Egypt

geewizz
That makes me sick!

You know breaking bad could not happen in uk because he would have got his treatment for free lol well USA just another thing that sucks over there

Breaking Bad would be about 5 mins long:

"Skyler, I have cancer!"

"Oh god! Let's book an appointment with a specialist"

6 months of treatment later

"Finally, I'm cancer free. Now back to the teaching"

1000 dollars for meds is that all you guys think of..?

Those 10 bucks meds (whatever they might be) being introduced for one purpose ONLY. To use them (all sort) on populations (without health insurance) and (on corrupt countries without special health control) in effect using human being as test subjects like the lab rats then they can sell the damn final products to the wealthy nations in whatever price they choose (so the final user(s) get busy complaining the high prices rather than thinking why it is so cheap in under developed nations.)

Way to go ATS…..Me shamefully smells a lot of ignorance on here nowadays.

Just wanted to add a little something about this drug - Sovaldi - from a personal perspective.

I've had HCV for a long time. Probably more than 20+ years. Over a decade ago, I tried an interferon therapy, but didn't react very well.

Fast forward to this drug. I visited with my former hepatologist at a support group meeting recently, and she wanted to me to get on this drug (and other antivirals) for 12 weeks. Since I have been recently unemployed, I can qualify for Gilead (and other Big Pharma) Patient Assistance program(s)... Doc says just the medication for my 12 week therapy will cost $150,000 - $200,000.

I'd JUMP at the opportunity to get treated....BUT my doc also forgets another key factor - Their office will charge me for the weekly visits and labs, for the entirety of the treatment. I can't afford $200-400 a week with a 40 mile drive (one way) to visit this doctor 1-3x per week. I just can't afford it. (And no- my state has refused Medicaid expansion, so I get NO assistance in that regard. I can barely afford food each month, much less the "cheap" ACA insurance.)

A lot of people I have met with Hepatitis C are elderly with a fixed income or just too poor to be able to afford any kind of treatment. In fact, I've spoken with a lot of people in my area who only received treatment of some kind through the Texas prison system. Sad, but true.

Personal rant aside, there are many issues that need to be seriously addressed here in the United States in regard to the medical and pharmacological industries.

GetHyped

geewizz
That makes me sick!

You know breaking bad could not happen in uk because he would have got his treatment for free lol well USA just another thing that sucks over there

Breaking Bad would be about 5 mins long:

"Skyler, I have cancer!"

"Oh god! Let's book an appointment with a specialist"

6 months of treatment later

"Finally, I'm cancer free. Now back to the teaching"

I just split my tea laughing from that

Too bad Egypt doesn't have a medical outreach program in the US to thank us for all the money & military goodies we keep giving them. That $10 medication would be a damn good start to that idea.

reply to post by Metallicus


Big pHARM and the health insurance scam hurt all Americans, regardless of health, income, etc. Most people don't pay it too much mind because their employer foots at least part of the bill for insurance. At the company I used to work for, they paid an average of $8k/yr per employee (some had family or self & spouse plans.) What people would complain about was the average $100/mo they paid out of pocket, only to face deductibles and copays - not the $8k they weren't getting in salary. Or which wasn't being invested in other things besides insurance co exec bonuses. It's a mistake drain on our economy.

There's two ways to fix it (besides hangings) -

1) ban all health insurance, cash only. Not able to pay? Suffer, become unproductive, die.

2) Universal Healthcare. Everyone gets full coverage as part of citizenship. If you want extra special medical care, you can pay for it yourself, like I've heard is the case in England. The trick to this one is, the government has to squeeze providers on price. "$1,000/pill? It's $10 in Egypt. We'll pay $50, taking into account our relative comparative wealth. Thank you for negotiating, FU." The next trick would be torture & hanging for anyone buying (or selling) influence in the sector.

Other options: health insurance as it was before ACA, or as it is after (much the same, just with more private and public dollars spotted down the vat.)

I honestly doubt it can be fixed here, because no matter what is done, the bad guys will get their cut (aka, soon to be a majority of GDP.) There was never going to be universal health care in the US, as Hillary tried to go after back in the 90s. With the ACA, the cured a couple minor ills by putting Ebola over them.

It's what the bad guys wanted all along.

HUMBLEONE
Big pharma sucks! Jesus H. Christ is EVERYTHING a scam in this country???

we are a country where our government totally embraces capitalism. we as people, admire our millionaires and billionaires to the point where it harms the rest of us. we will remain this way, until people start holding them accountable, instead of the ones they buy off. our politicians act like the buffer zone for the wealthy, easy scapegoats that can be changed out like an oil filter on a car.. when people perceive, and/or experience injustice, they go after interchangeable politicians, rather than the ones the wield the actual power.......work to lessen the power of the wealthy, not the ones they influence.

reply to post by Metallicus


The Only thing good about 'Big Pharma" is
owning stock in it.
They don't appear to care about healing, only care about
profit at this point. I personally know people who have DIED from
taking some of there so called "medications".
Not to mention those who have become addicted to
the cash cow "Pain Meds".

Back in the day , you could take advantage of so called
"free trade" and purchase RX meds online from Canada
and elsewhere at a fraction of the U.S. prices.
Then Bush 2 put through some "protectionist" measures
to put a stop to that.

To be fair, Big Pharma has created many beneficial treatments,
but one has to wonder why they are The Biggest Lobby in D.C.
by far.

It is time for our leaders to own up to this mess, and enact
some new legislation to return the RX prices to reasonable levels.
For it has become monopolistic price gouging at its best.
Excellent Thread ! S&F

reply to post by Metallicus


We NEED to file and sign a petition to correct this price gouging.

You can also file a complaint here :

www.usa.gov...

Example of Petition :

gab.wi.gov...

Thats why medical tourism is booming in other East Asian countries and else where.. it's cheaper to buy a flight ticket, get a nice hotel room covered for your stay, and get VIP treatment in another country like India that now has top class hospital facilities, than it is to get treatment here in America.
And you'll still have money left over for other things ..
Big Pharma are just criminal organizations that are trying to monopolize the drug and treatment industry ..to charge you whatever they want.
This is why insurance and healthcare is so complicated to even understand .. to make sure they suck every penny out of patients ...
Being sick should not mean bean being bankrupt ..and no access to the best drugs around ..


Same with Dental Procedures .. it's daylight robbery here in America and Western countries ..
I have friends who just make a vacation out of flying to India, get treated nicely, same procedure, same drugs, enjoy their stay, and come back, at a fraction of the cost ..!
you pay $4000 for an implant in America .. try $250 in India ..that too in the best hospitals ..

Elton
Sometimes capitalism is not so great, other times it is...

This is not the capitalism, but government enforced monopoly for the few big guys i.e. a corrupt crony capitalism (aka fascism). If you could import and buy any medicine without going through government sanctioned gatekeepers, medicine would be as inexpensive as food or Chinese trinkets.

The FDA does not exist to help Americans become healthy with safer food and drugs. They exist to help the drug companies make enormous profits and push questionable and poorly tested drugs on the American public.

reply to post by Metallicus


Average income per household in the US is $60k (give or take, going on figures from the 2004 US Census figures)

USA GDP: 15.68 Trillion dollars
USA GDP per capita: $49,965.27

Average income in Egypt is $6k (give or take and going on the current exchange rate)

Egypt GDP: 257.3 Billion dollars
Egypt GDP Per Capita: $3,187.31

Whilst I agree with $1000 per tablet is excessive, it is also relative.

Truth_Hz

You make more money treating diseases then curing them. Never trust modern medicine. Ever.

interupt42

Elton
Sometimes capitalism is not so great, other times it is...

If you had capitalism then you would have competition in the market place and the price would never reach such absurd levels.

What you have is Corpitalism which controls the market and the consumers via legal lobbying efforts to ensure a lack of competition.

Wrong wrong wrong. what you term "corpitalism" is a natural consequence of laissez-faire capitalism. Unfortunately the followers of capitalism for some reason don't want to see/admit this, like yourself, and in stead come out with some drivel like "If capitalism was allowed..." .blah blah nonsense.

Wherever capitalism fails it does with respect to essential goods and services. Where it succeeds (and the followers always use these as examples) is for non essential goods and services.

The solution is obvious.........................

yorkshirelad

interupt42

Elton
Sometimes capitalism is not so great, other times it is...

If you had capitalism then you would have competition in the market place and the price would never reach such absurd levels.

What you have is Corpitalism which controls the market and the consumers via legal lobbying efforts to ensure a lack of competition.

Wrong wrong wrong. what you term "corpitalism" is a natural consequence of laissez-faire capitalism. Unfortunately the followers of capitalism for some reason don't want to see/admit this, like yourself, and in stead come out with some drivel like "If capitalism was allowed..." .blah blah nonsense.

Wherever capitalism fails it does with respect to essential goods and services. Where it succeeds (and the followers always use these as examples) is for non essential goods and services.

The solution is obvious.........................

Oh please enlighten us on your obvious solution. Dare I think you are suggesting Socialism or full blown communism?

BTW , you make quite the assumptions from my post and where did I ever say Capitalism was the sole answer?

The facts remain, we do not have a true capitalist society whether it goes against your reality is irrelevant.

That's probably the actual cost of the drug. Here in the US we get shafted when it comes to things that can cure diseases. It's either not allowed or if it can be patented it will be sold very expensively to those that don't look online first. It's a scam and we would all be better off if we just tried to find the natural cure for whatever we're faced with. Best yet, prevent it and don't eat GMO foods, get medical treatments (radiation, chemotherapy, etc) and don't eat harmful food additives. Get your water filtered to get the fluoride and crap out, don't get vaccines and you (and your family including pets) will be well on your way to a healther and happier life. Our immune systems were made to handle just about any disease if it's strong and not competing with chemicals! Strong Immunity

NeoSpace
As an outsider the US health care system looks on par with a 3rd world country, sure you have some of the best doctors in the world but only the rich can afford them.

I read an artical some where that they charge you $25 for a single aspirin in US hospitals, here in Europe and pretty much every other 1st world country health care is subsidised from tax money so you don't pay a penny when you need it.

kind of funny, as an outsider in a third world country from a first world country with "subsidized" social health care, the third world country looks much better to me. you see one of the reasons i am where i am is so that i can actually receive the medical help i need, at an "affordable price". trust me i do understand that for a "native" that healthcare can be expensive. but one thing is that in a third world nation there is more likely to be "charitable" medical care available. in the end i think it ends up better (not perfect mind you). you are wrong about America having the "best doctors", from what i and my family have seen third world countries have some of the best doctors, it would seem that doctors enter the field to actually help people unlike most first world countries they tend to enter the profession more for the money they can make. "grass is greener on the other side of the fence"?

"here in Europe and pretty much every other 1st world country health care is subsidised from tax money so you don't pay a penny when you need it." while i can't answer for Europe, i do know how it is in Canada (which is highly regarded in the US, as an awesome medial system like they should have, by some people) which has socialized medicine. sure a lot of things are free when it comes to health care, but not by any means all of it. eye exams and glasses are not covered, so if you want to see, you better have insurance or the money to pay for it, and prescription glasses are generally at least a couple hundred dollars a pair. dental is not covered, and again rather expensive if you don't have insurance, i know years back without insurance i needed a wisdom tooth extracted. after balking at the $500 charge the dentist told me i was lucky it was a wisdom tooth, otherwise it would have been a lot more. i had to borrow money to pay for it. then things like physiotherapy, something that is much needed after injury is also NOT covered, so again unless you have insurance you are screwed since that costs a small fortune to pay for on your own. then comes prescription medicine yet again not covered unless you have outside insurance. and it seems the more needed the medicine is, the more expensive it is. also thanks to socialized medicine things like a psychologist (too expensive i guess) are not covered, they are the ones that try to help you deal with issues and problems, again without outside insurance the cost is prohibitive, and so out of reach. yet they will send you to a psychiatrist, which will basically talk to you for 15 minutes and prescribe medication to cover over your problem instead of trying to deal with it. not only does this leave the underlying cause of your issue unresolved, it puts you on dangerous medication like SSRI's, likely permanently. and THOSE are expensive, i was on a couple for awhile, thank god i had insurance because those two pills a day were worth about $2,000 a month. and here is the kicker, you have to renew the prescription all the time. so while i was on these meds i lost my doctor, and due to the fact there are not enough doctors out there that are allowed by the medical system to take more patients, i couldn't get that prescription renewed. oops, you ever see some warnings on medications? some medications for various things can cause serious and deadly (for yourself and possibly everyone around you) adverse effects when not weened off of them. not a good situation at all. sure there are "walk in clinics" but they WON'T prescribe medications due to liability issues, they tell you to see your Dr instead. i couldn't even go back to the psychiatrist since that requires a recommendation from your doctor.

from being overseas i can tell you medications are much cheaper in "poorer" countries than in Canada or the US, for the same even "name brand" medications. one reason that people go down to Mexico and such to buy cheap medicines. i understand that is so popular that when cruise ships enter some areas there is a major pharmaceutical operation set up to sell cheap medication to passengers (no prescription needed). cheaper stuff excepting electronics seems to be the norm in poorer countries. i did a "price comparison" a year or so ago on a new Ford SUV, i was able to buy one in the Philippines for about $8,000 (after working out money exchange rates) cheaper than buying the SAME vehicle in North America where it is built, and keep in mind not only do you need to pay for the vehicle but i am rather sure that it is not free to ship halfway around the world. it would seem almost everything is way over priced in North America to gain as much profit as possible, but medications seem to win big time in what they charge there.

reply to post by Metallicus

I am tired of being taken advantage of by corporate interests and our Government.

Ditto.

F&S & for a GREAT find.

reply to post by Metallicus


You can get a round trip fair to Cairo, Egypt for around $1,300. If you're going to spend that kind of money you might as well spend a bit more and go on vacation.