An effective eye drug is available for $50. But many doctors choose a $2,000 alternative

Washington Post ^ | 12/7/13 | Peter Whoriskey, Dan Keating

[Veto!]

The two drugs have been declared equivalently miraculous. Tested side by side in six major trials, both prevent blindness in a common old-age affliction. Biologically, they are cousins. They’re even made by the same company...

[MestaMachine]

Freepers helping Freepers. Being ill and a shutin myself, I have had to learn how to do virtually everything online. WHEN I leave this house, it is in an ambulance. It’s a case of “Walk a mile in my moccasins.” You do what you can and hope you have made someone else’s life a little easier than what it was.
Thank you for the offer. I will tell him as he had himself a run-in with the moderator, (or maybe with Jim,) and is on hiatus at the moment. I think the frustration gets to him sometimes and he just goes off.

[MestaMachine]

I’m getting there too, but it is caused by the multitude of insane meds I have to take. Lost my hearing from injury that just got worse and worse since. Can’t hardly see and can’t hardly hear. Ain’t we a pair?

[MHGinTN]

If I ever meet you in person, I’ll give you a ride on my wheelchair. I can still use canes to walk, but the chair is faster, so you can have a joy ride on it, m’Lady.

[MestaMachine]

Sounds great! Right now I am hooked up to monitors and oxygen and a machine that keeps the blood circulating in my legs and feet. I have to unhook and unwrap tubes from around myself so I don’t strangle or something. Every day the nurse comes and debloods me and then gives me a shot of warfarin to thin what’s left. Every week I get a whole blood transfusion and then they spend the rest of the week stealing it back. Go figure. Thank G-d I am still here and thank G-d for computers or I would go stark raving mad.
How fast can you go in that chair? Warning. I am a literal speed freak.

[lonestar]

I have it. It's Age Related Macular degeneration.

That's why I have to have injections in both eyes...about six weeks between shots in each eye.

I have had both meds discussed in the article. The first thing they did is sign me up in a Chronic Disease Fund. About two pages of corporations contribute to the fund to help pay for the meds.

I went to the opthamologist to have cataracts removed and he had scheduled it but ran one last test. When he saw the pictures he said, "Forget the cataracts! You have mac degeneration" and sent me to a retina clinic.

I've been getting shots in one eye since last Oct and in the other since last January.

There are two kinds--wet and dry. The shots are for the wet kind. If the vessels start to "leak" is what causes blindness. The shots control leakage...or that's how I understand it. There is no treatment for the dry kind. I had dry in the eye that turned wet so I went from one eye to both eyues.

It's hereditary...my mother, her sister and her brother had it but they lost a lot of sight because the shots weren't available...and they didn't know they had it--30 years ago. My aunt was 57 when she first had a problem and she described it as "The lights went out."

So I'm thankful for the meds!...and the Chronic Disease Fund.

I wonder how ObamaCare will affect it.

Train Hairy to be a Seeing Eye Dog! LOL!

[Hot Tabasco]

Doctors, meanwhile, may benefit when they choose the more expensive drug. Under Medicare repayment rules for drugs given by physicians, they are reimbursed for the average price of the drug plus 6 percent. That means a drug with a higher price may be easier to sell to doctors than a cheaper one

That's not true, That "average price of the drug plus 6 percent" is a figure determined by the govt. and not indicative of the actual cost of the drug to the physician, which in most cases will cost the physician much more.

Example being my brother-in-law who is an oncologist who had to leave his private practice and become a hospital staff doctor because he was actually losing money on the super expensive chemotherapy drugs he had to administer to his patients. The cost to him by the pharmaceutical companies was more than what the govt. was willing to reimburse.

It should also be noted that drugs are indeed cheaper in Canada and realizing this, he asked his attorney if it was feasable for him to get his drugs from Canada and his attorney told him that if he tried, he'd go to jail........

The problem isn't with "Big Pharma", it's with our government........

You want price control? What happened back in the '70's when Carter put a price cap on the cost of gasoline? Rationing and long lines........

Do you want that from our drug industry?

[Hot Tabasco]

The healthcare industry is intent on milking you. To death.

The easy solution to that is to invest in Big Pharma..........So how much stock do you own?

[Ditter]

I go every year to a very good opthamologist and he checks me for that so far he say my macula is OK. I am so glad that you have found a treatment for this awful condition.

I have cataracts but not quite ready for surgery. I don't like to drive at night especially if it is someplace that is unfamiliar to me.

[Chickensoup]

I remember when doctors couldn’t take kickbacks. Back then they could lose their licenses.

[Veto!]

Thanks for interesting info on drug biz. Doctors are being squeezed too. Sorry about your BIL.

What do I really really want from the drug industry?

Nothing.

I try to lead a drug-free life. I’m a “high responder,” drugs can be dangerous for me. Antibiotics have been useful, but I only take those that have been on the market for ten or more years.

Acupuncture works wonders for me, other alternative systems too. Organic, well-balanced meals contribute to health. One can actually stay healthy for decades and even more decades using natural methods.