The Cost of Cats, thanks to Big Pharma

[lagilman]

So, the cost of insulin has exploded recently. Great, I guess, if you're covered by insurance. If you need it for your cat or dog, though? SOL.

Thanks, Sanofi-Aventis. Because paying $300+ for a 10 ml vial isn't a luxury or an option - it's what my cat needs to SURVIVE. I hope you bastards choke on every extra penny you're padding your bottom (dollar) with.

I am all about big pharma having patents - that's how you make money to cover the cost of the experiments that don't pan out. But there's a huge difference between "making money" and "making obscene amounts of money at the expense of life-giving drugs becoming unaffordable."

(And don't even get me started on their legal push to get rid of inexpensive drugs being made available to the poor in other nations, because I WILL froth.)


So if you only see me briefly at Norwescon, it's because I chose to keep my cat alive and healthy, rather than having a hotel room for the weekend.

Comments

[badgermirlacca.livejournal.com]

It's not just insulin--all my prescription drugs have jumped 25% as of the first of the year, too.

How much do you want to bet that the pharma companies are blaming the ACA?

I swear, one of these days we've got to wake up and extend Medicare to the whole country--AND give it the right to negotiate prices, dammit.

Sorry. *passes towel to clean up inadvertent froth in someone else's topic*

[lagilman]

And, of course, there's no generic for insulin, 'cause it's a biological.

[difrancis.livejournal.com]

Big Pharma is also buying up the generic companies in order to raise prices. Successfully, I might add.

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's a crazy, crazy price. I don't blame you for being incensed. With Spanky I got lucky; he only required saline toward the end of his life. That kind of money for medication is significant. Yikes.

[deborahlive.livejournal.com]

Us, too. And the tiny vial of test strips for $60? Yeah. I know that we are so damned lucky to be in a position where we CAN do this for our cat. If it had happened at various other times in our and his life, I don't even want to think about it.

[pfflyernc.livejournal.com]

Not sure what type of insulin your kitty needs, but Walmart usually has Relion-brand regular and NPH insulin for about $25-$30 for a 10-mL vial. You might also want to check Costco--they usually have the lowest prices around, and you don't have to be a member to get Rx's filled there.

[lagilman]

The Relion brand is not recommended by either of my vets, especially for a cat who isn't controlled yet. It's there if I couldn't afford the higher prices, but it would require more fiddling and visits to the vet to get the dosing right, which will end up costing MORE.

Yes, I've talked to my vet about alternatives, why does nobody think I have?

(sorry, not cranky at you, but the general internet mode of Offer Advice Before Asking if Advice Is Wanted, which we all fall prey ). And the dosage is closer to $80-100 these days, from Costco.

(I won't buy from Wal-Mart, even to save myself $50).

[camille-is-here.livejournal.com]

It is getting very bad. On the people side, Doctors Without Borders has been banging that drum for the last month.

[lagilman]

Doctors without Borders is one of my "when I have cash, that is where the cash goes" moral obligations. Yeah.

[camille-is-here.livejournal.com]

Yeah. They are pretty amazing

[joycemocha.livejournal.com]

Yeah. The son's Humira (for his Crohn's) jumped up $200. Granted, he's been able to get financial assistance from AbbiVie, but...sigh. I doubt they have such programs for cats and insulin. It's needed for animal meds as well as humans.

Price jump is why I discontinued hock injections for the horse once the vet would only inject the exterior joints (four joints, four injections, med price that last time was the same for two as it was for four). Her joints are already fusing, and it means we slow down and avoid pressure on those hocks until the process is done. But dear God I've heard about horrific injectable med price jumps. Come to think of it, the Twoway vaccine (horse flu shot)had shot up. Yuck. I dread this year's rabies and strangles vax.

Late girl is late.

[neko-san.livejournal.com]

That's... wow. Insane.

Lo many years ago when I had a diabetic cat, the porcine insulin worked best for her, and that stuff was dirt cheap, relatively speaking. If I recall correctly, the needle for one shot cost something like 25-30 cents while the insulin for one shot was something like a penny. I remember the vet and I trying to find the last few bottles of porcine insulin when it was being phased out for human-only insulin. =/

My complaint ever since that time is why don't we have modified bacteria pumping out feline insulin. (We had trouble finding an insulin she would react well to.) If that's the cost, though... oh boy.