Well, it seems to be my week to be ticked! I've been listening to absurd ads on the radio warning us to call our representatives in Washington and tell them to vote NO on the drug importation bill.
What a load of horse hockey!
The parmaceutical companies have made billions off American citizens and they are afraid their cash cow is going to be taken away. Well, it's about time!
Do you realize that drug makers in the U.S. allow the exact same drugs they sell here to be sold for a fraction of the cost in other countries? Senior citizens who are on fixed budgets have had to take the step of purchasing their prescriptions in Canada or in Mexico for years. The drugs are sold for even less in other countries around the world.
The ads tried to scare listeners by telling them the imported drugs wouldn't be governed by the guidelines from the FDA, and that's not so. If you'd like to read just what the House of Representatives intended, visit this post by Congressman Larson of Connecticut.
I have a long way to go to reach retirement, but I'm really concerned that we won't be able to meet the costs of insurance and prescriptions once we retire. My husband is presently on a prescription that costs more than $120 each month. Do the math. A couple of prescriptions could sink a budget really fast. Insurance isn't any better. My mother has insurance in addition to Medicare that costs her more than $6000 now. Think what it will cost in 15 years!
The race for the presidential election that's two years off has already started. You can bet that the cost of drugs and insurance is going to be a hot issue in that race. A candidate that doesn't have solutions isn't going to get any support from the baby boomers. And you can be DAMN sure that they won't get MY vote!
Comments (5)
Don't even get me started on this one!!!! I know many of people online and off that are addictied to so called "perscription" drugs however claim they could do without them...yeah well, we are all still waiting for that issue!!!! Drugs are drugs are drugs no matter "my doctor perscribes them or not"..............hense why I have a cabinet full of filled perscriptions, with all numbered pills filled still in the bottle.............INMHO we are all nothing but pure gunnie pigs with the medical field.....
Posted by Jamie | July 20, 2003 3:34 AM
Posted on July 20, 2003 03:34
Thats the way to approach it. If you feel strongly enough, form a lobby group. Force them to do somethingh about it.
Posted by Mad Bull | July 20, 2003 10:56 AM
Posted on July 20, 2003 10:56
Jamie....I agree. When mother was taking chemo I discovered that there was a lot of theory and not a lot of concrete data. She made it through 11 months of a year's treatment, and stormed in to tell the doc she wouldn't be doing any more,tyvm. He took the wind out of her sails by saying there was no research to prove that 12 months was more efficacious than 11 months of therapy.
On the other hand, there are SOME drugs that really do help, and the unfairness of the pricing system needs to be addressed. The drug companies have gouged us long enough. Mad Bull's right. We need to pursue this through legislation.
Posted by Buffy | July 21, 2003 11:02 AM
Posted on July 21, 2003 11:02
I agree ~ right now I'm on a medication that if I had to pay full price would cost us $300. Sorry, if I had to pay that a month I wouldn't bother getting it filled and yes it is working ~ but there are too many doctor's out there that say well lets try this ~ if it doesn't work ~ well then lets try this ~ etc etc ~ had more than my share of them in the past ~ it is like Dr. D's recent post about doctors with lack of bed side manner. *shaking head* I guess becoming a doctor is like any other job these days ~ people who can make the cut/classes etc ~ seem to forget, maybe because of their salary *Dr. D please don't take this personal as I'm not trying to state ALL doctor's are this way*, their life style and what they deal with day to day ~ they tend to forget what it is like to struggle, worry and the like. IMHO
Posted by Jamie | July 22, 2003 10:56 PM
Posted on July 22, 2003 22:56
Jamie, as the volume of information available to doctors has increased, it seems to me that the old image of a father-figure doctor who had all the answers and could cure anything has slipped away.
I can see why doctors will try one thing after another to get a cure. They have more information to work with, and more choices of treatment. I think that it's just difficult for us to make the adjustment to the idea that our doctors are human......just like us.
Posted by Buffy | July 23, 2003 9:54 AM
Posted on July 23, 2003 09:54