$175.99 for an inhaler which will last about 1 month. ($175?????????)

[MrsSmith]

  

virgogal  Donating Member  (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Sat May-15-10 04:51 PM
Original message

$175.99 for an inhaler which will last about 1 month.
   
I have good coverage so only paid $34.05.

How the hell do people do it?

Seriously...has anyone else run into an inhaler for $175?  My daughter is uninsured and unemployed, so one of the things I purchase for her is her Albuterol inhalers, for about $13 each...or Primatene for $20.  Is this a bouncy, or do some inhalers really run this high?  

[The Village Idiot]

What kind of medicine does this person need?

[JohnnyReb]

What kind of medicine does this person need?

Apparently....coke.

[RightCoast]

Another way to look at this is: Only $175.00 for an inhaler that could stop you from violently suffocating to death.  Would you buy it or not?

[thundley4]

Another way to look at this is: Only $175.00 for an inhaler that could stop you from violently suffocating to death.  Would you buy it or not?

My weed does the same thing for much less. /DUmode

[Randy]

Advair costs that much. Spiriva costs $126.
Those TV ads are expensive dontcha know.  
I used to pay $25 deductible for each.
 
These are DUmmies and their only useful function in life is what she needs right now. That being that if this one looks around a bit then her DUmmie friends will turn her on to a source for cheaper meds.

[terry]

And you can thank your resident greenies for this cost..

HFA and CFC Inhalers

Currently, only HFA inhalers are sold throughout most of the world based on the commitment to discontinue the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) because of their affect on the ozone layer. As part of that effort, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) required manufacturers of albuterol inhalers use hydrofluoroalkane (HFA) in place of CFCs to propel the medicine out of the inhaler. As a result, no CFC albuterol inhalers were sold after December 31, 2008, and the pharmaceutical industry gradually decreased production of CFC albuterol inhalers while increasing their production of HFA albuterol inhalers.

<snip>
What is the cost of the HFA inhaler?
HFA inhalers may cost anywhere from $30 to $60, which is considerably more than the $5 to $25 for a generic CFC inhaler. Manufacturers of HFA inhalers are implementing programs to make sure patients who cannot afford HFA inhalers will be able to get these. These programs include givaways, coupons for reducing the price paid, and patient assistant programs based on financial need.

 

Guess you need to ask chicken little to pay for your medication.

link

[soleil]

I remember when I was pregnant, I was sooo sick, throwing up ALL day, every day, and my doc prescribed me Zofran. With insurance it cost me $130 and that was only a 21 day supply. This is a medication prescribed for cancer patients mostly to help with nausea. I wondered myself how people can afford it. It was hard for me to afford it, but I was willing to give up other stuff to have it. I wondered how someone who has cancer, and really needs this, and is paying so much more in other medical costs, can afford it. There are many medicines out there that are way too expensive.

There are many that I can get for $4, but then there are some that are outrageously expensive.

[MrsSmith]

Advair costs that much. Spiriva costs $126.
Those TV ads are expensive dontcha know.  
I used to pay $25 deductible for each.
 
These are DUmmies and their only useful function in life is what she needs right now. That being that if this one looks around a bit then her DUmmie friends will turn her on to a source for cheaper meds.

OK, thanks.  We've never used Advair inhalers.  Even when my kid's asthma was extremely bad, the only Advair was a weeks worth of sample pills.  Of course, that makes the point that doctors will prescribe what you can afford, if you talk to them about price. 

[Ballygrl]

 
Seriously...has anyone else run into an inhaler for $175?  My daughter is uninsured and unemployed, so one of the things I purchase for her is her Albuterol inhalers, for about $13 each...or Primatene for $20.  Is this a bouncy, or do some inhalers really run this high?  

My Mother uses an inhaler called Spiriva, without insurance it would run about $175.

[Ballygrl]

Advair costs that much. Spiriva costs $126.
Those TV ads are expensive dontcha know.  
I used to pay $25 deductible for each.
 
These are DUmmies and their only useful function in life is what she needs right now. That being that if this one looks around a bit then her DUmmie friends will turn her on to a source for cheaper meds.

Oh you mentioned Spiriva.

[Randy]

OK, thanks.  We've never used Advair inhalers.  Even when my kid's asthma was extremely bad, the only Advair was a weeks worth of sample pills.  Of course, that makes the point that doctors will prescribe what you can afford, if you talk to them about price. 

I did my research and found a support group that had a legitimate foreign source and started stocking up for a year at a time for 2 1/2 months worth of deductibles.

About a year later someone violated the rules and brought up politics on the messageboard and the place erupted with barking moonbats. The place was over run with them yapping, yipping, barking and hollering. There were about a half dozen of us that were normal and we sorta backed out the door shaking our heads as we went. They had to shut the board down for a couple of days to let the noise die down and to make them all adhere to the no politics rule again.

[Randy]

Oh you mentioned Spiriva.

Yep I did. I was on the 2 of them for almost 5 years. I had another set of tests done late last year and somehow I'd overcome emphysema and didn't need them anymore. Dunno how it happened, it's supposed to be impossible but here I am and I'm not the only one either.

[Ballygrl]

Yep I did. I was on the 2 of them for almost 5 years. I had another set of tests done late last year and somehow I'd overcome emphysema and didn't need them anymore. Dunno how it happened, it's supposed to be impossible but here I am and I'm not the only one either.

Wow, I wonder if you really did have emphysema to begin with, it's a disease that always progresses, obviously it didn't in your case, amazing.

[Randy]

Wow, I wonder if you really did have emphysema to begin with, it's a disease that always progresses, obviously it didn't in your case, amazing.

Both sets of tests were done by labs in the booth so I dunno. All I know is I went from distressed breathing many times a day to a couple times a week or less now tops. It's most likely a misdiagnosis of something else that has since healed but I'm not going to question this gift horse at all. 

[thundley4]

Wow, I wonder if you really did have emphysema to begin with, it's a disease that always progresses, obviously it didn't in your case, amazing.

I wouldn't say that it always gets worse. My dad was diagnosed with emphysema in the early 70's and used an inhaler for several years after that. He was disabled by it, but slowly recovered by walking and then riding a bicycle. He never really suffered from it after that, and never had lung problems again. 

[Ballygrl]

I wouldn't say that it always gets worse. My dad was diagnosed with emphysema in the early 70's and used an inhaler for several years after that. He was disabled by it, but slowly recovered by walking and then riding a bicycle. He never really suffered from it after that, and never had lung problems again. 

That's good to hear especially since my Mom has COPD.

[Celtic Rose]

 
Seriously...has anyone else run into an inhaler for $175?  My daughter is uninsured and unemployed, so one of the things I purchase for her is her Albuterol inhalers, for about $13 each...or Primatene for $20.  Is this a bouncy, or do some inhalers really run this high?  

I was prescribed one that was about that much the last time I got pneumonia. It was the type you use twice a day to prevent asthma attacks rather than treat them after the fact.   I thank God that my asthma is generally controllable without daily medication, because the preventative medications tends to be really expensive.  Albuterol inhalers are pretty cheap, and I've had my doctor just hand me one in the office without needing to pay for it. 

[Tucker]

I remember when I was pregnant, I was sooo sick, throwing up ALL day, every day, and my doc prescribed me Zofran. With insurance it cost me $130 and that was only a 21 day supply. This is a medication prescribed for cancer patients mostly to help with nausea. I wondered myself how people can afford it. It was hard for me to afford it, but I was willing to give up other stuff to have it. I wondered how someone who has cancer, and really needs this, and is paying so much more in other medical costs, can afford it. There are many medicines out there that are way too expensive.

There are many that I can get for $4, but then there are some that are outrageously expensive.

Pam. Is that you?

[Lacarnut]

My dad had an ulcer on his foot for many years that could not be cured because of poor circulation. A tube of cream cost $750. When I went to pick it up at the drug store, I told them I did not want it. My dad was in and out of the hospital numerous times with his foot. Medicare would pay for that that same medicine when he was in the hospital but not when he got out.

[BlueStateSaint]

Pam. Is that you?

  Didn't even spot that!  Great catch!

[formerlurker]

I remember when I was pregnant, I was sooo sick, throwing up ALL day, every day, and my doc prescribed me Zofran. With insurance it cost me $130 and that was only a 21 day supply. This is a medication prescribed for cancer patients mostly to help with nausea. I wondered myself how people can afford it. It was hard for me to afford it, but I was willing to give up other stuff to have it. I wondered how someone who has cancer, and really needs this, and is paying so much more in other medical costs, can afford it. There are many medicines out there that are way too expensive.

There are many that I can get for $4, but then there are some that are outrageously expensive.

My son's seizure medication is in the $500-600 range monthly.    It isn't cheap to develop medicine.   Someone has to pay for the research etc. to get the drug approved.   

[formerlurker]

Pam. Is that you?

If it is it must have taken her hours to get the grammar and spelling correct prior to posting it.

[thundley4]

My son's seizure medication is in the $500-600 range monthly.    It isn't cheap to develop medicine.   Someone has to pay for the research etc. to get the drug approved.   

The only thing that bothers me, is that some drugs are developed by universities with government funded money, yet the government never sees a return on it's investment, but the drugs are still expensive.

[delilahmused]

And you can thank your resident greenies for this cost..

Guess you need to ask chicken little to pay for your medication.

link

And they don't work as well, either. It takes me twice as much to get enough albuterol to make a difference. I've had to use my nebulizer sometimes because I just can't get it deeply enough in my lungs.

Cindie