12 Comments
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Elsa's avatar

Outrageous. And expected.

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William H Bestermann Jr MD's avatar

We need to push back hard. This system works for the middlemen and no one else.

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Elsa's avatar

About time the middle people were put on a very strict diet - no gobbling up a patient's resources. I have a couple of "inhaler" cats. I need to watch, to protect the other cats from the "inhalers" who have gobbled their portion while the others are maybe one-third through. In this case, I don't believe there should be any portion for the middle people - well, maybe they can charge for delivering the package from the manufacturer to the pharmacy!!! You would know better than me.

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David C. Kibbe's avatar

Hi, Bill. Important piece. In any other country, this would be considered corruption and fraud, and the middlemen would be charged and tried in court. Instead, here the corruption is “part of the system” that we are all expected to live with and pay for.

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William H Bestermann Jr MD's avatar

Thanks again. That is a brilliant point. All the arrangements are secret for the reasons that you have mentioned. It is not a service system. It is a predatory system that preys on the vulnerable

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James Mittelberger MD's avatar

This is interesting, but it should be noted the article appears to be limited to high utilization generic medications. The cost issues in the US are not limited to the middlemen. There are unbelievably expensive non-generic medications now flooding the market. Some are very valuable. Some have very limited benefit.

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William H Bestermann Jr MD's avatar

You are so right. This is just one piece of a sad story. Our medical system does not serve us well.

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TheyLiveAndWeLockdown's avatar

For drugs that claim to lower mortality this could be simply fixed by delaying payment to the company via escrow and the company only gets paid if the patient is alive at the end of the term.

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MOMinator's avatar

Ditto what Elsa says! 🤡🌎

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Laura T RN BSN's avatar

Its so disgusting

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Trying hard's avatar

Same reason Big Pharma/Gov fought so hard against highly effective off-patent Nobel winning drugs to prevent and treat covid. Millions died horribly and needlessly.

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