Purchasing from Your Physician Could Cost Big Bucks

A new article published in the New York Times is shining light on another extra expense you may be subjected to.

Purchasing your medications directly from your physician means you could pay almost 10 times as much. The article uses Zantac as a clear example.  If the patient takes the prescription to their local pharmacy they will pay on average 35 cents per pill. If the same patient purchases the drug from their physician the cost skyrockets to $3.24 a pill. This cost is forwarded onto insurance companies.

Barry Meier and Katie Thomas report that “experts say that doctors, middlemen and drug distributors are adding hundreds of millions of dollars annually to the costs borne by taxpayers, insurance companies and employers through the practice of physician dispensing.”

Much more information can be found in the original article and we encourage you to stay informed.

Have you been given the option to purchase medications from your doctor’s office? Did you notice a mark-up?

 

Fines Heavy for “Off Label” Promotion

Monday, July 2nd saw the largest recorded fine for health care fraud in the United States.

In an article by ProPublica, it is reported that GlaxoSmithKline agreed to pay a $3 billion fine for promoting some drugs for their “off label” uses. GSK is not the first company to be charged with off label fraud (see more in the original article) but this most recent fine is making headlines. A statement by the US Department of Justice reads as follows:

“Global health care giant GlaxoSmithKline LLC (GSK) agreed to plead guilty and to pay $3 billion to resolve its criminal and civil liability arising from the company’s unlawful promotion of certain prescription drugs, its failure to report certain safety data, and its civil liability for alleged false price reporting practices, the Justice Department announced today.”

The fine is a result of marketing the drugs Paxil, Wellbutrin, and Avandia for uses unapproved by the FDA.

Have you been prescribed or told about alternate uses for common medications?