Ahead of potential regulation, Johnson & Johnson will include the list and potential out-of-pocket prices of the drugs it sells in television commercials, beginning with Xarelto (rivaroxaban):
Johnson & Johnson said on Thursday it will start adding the price of its medicines to television commercials by next month, becoming the first drugmaker to heed a call by U.S. President Donald Trump for price transparency of drugs advertised directly to consumers on TV.
The healthcare conglomerate said it will include both the list price of a product - the price before any rebates or discounts to insurers or pharmacy benefit managers - as well as potential out-of-pocket costs that patients will pay.
The move, announced in a statement on J&J's website, won swift praise from U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. Last May, Azar's office released a blueprint for reducing the cost of drug prices, which included a proposal to require disclosure of list prices in TV ads for drugs.
[...] Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, ranking member of the committee, on Monday invited executives from seven pharmaceutical companies, including J&J, to testify at a Feb. 26 hearing on rising drug prices.
Also at MarketWatch.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 09 2019, @07:09AM (5 children)
I guess it will be as accurate as the car MSRP prices, but still can't say it's not a step in the right direction.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 09 2019, @08:06AM
Rebates are going away. These were a problem because they hid the true drug prices. The cost of giving the rebates could be added to the drug prices (had to be in fact) and was causing weird situations with copayments. For example, you may pay a copayment that was based on the standard price, but somebody (pharmacy, doctor, insurance company, etc. -- not you of course) was getting paid to have you assigned that particular drug.
(Score: 1) by NateMich on Saturday February 09 2019, @08:28AM (3 children)
MSRP on cars is very accurate, at least where I live. The delivery charge is right there on the sticker, if that's what you mean.
I do remember years ago when I was in California in the Navy we used to joke about how they added an extra line at the dealership with some bullshit charge (which was quite substantial).
I say we joked about it because that wasn't a thing back home.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 09 2019, @09:24AM (2 children)
https://images.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/05/adp.jpg [thetruthaboutcars.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by Pino P on Saturday February 09 2019, @02:25PM
images.thetruthaboutcars.com uses an invalid security certificate.
The certificate is only valid for the following names: [list of 100 names that includes thetruthaboutcars.com and www.thetruthaboutcars.com but not images.thetruthaboutcars.com]
(Score: 2) by toddestan on Sunday February 10 2019, @07:40PM
Honda is kind of known for charging full MSRP for their cars, take it or leave it. If you're getting any kind of significant discount, it's either something they are having trouble moving, or its a leftover model from the previous year. That is also why it's somewhat rare to see Honda's being used as a fleet car, because fleet managers don't want to pay MSRP for a fleet of vehicles. With that said, I don't know what is going on with the attached image - looks like a bunch of overpriced dealer add-ons to me.
On the other hand, you have GM which (except when Saturn was around) pretty much sells every vehicle at thousands off of MSRP to make it feel like you're getting a deal. If you buy a GM car and pay full MSRP either it's a new model that's really in demand, or you special ordered something.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by istartedi on Saturday February 09 2019, @07:58AM (2 children)
Yay for price transparency. Boo that they advertise prescription drugs directly to consumers in the first place.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Saturday February 09 2019, @07:03PM (1 child)
Agreed. Dude gets on television, and praises some drug as curing everything from hangovers to radiation sickness, polio, measles, mumps, and twelve kinds of cancer (everything except the cold, or flue). "Ask your doctor if Virgin Mary's Cureall is right for you!" So, the next time you have a hangnail, you ask the doctor about Virgin Mary's Cureall. Doc knows he can only make a hundred dollars or so on your hangnail, so he's happy to prescribe VMC to you, and adding another $75 to your bill, AND pocket $50 kickback from the VMC sales guy.
I'm going to buy my defensive radar from Temu, just like Venezuela!
(Score: 2) by istartedi on Saturday February 09 2019, @07:30PM
The ones that really get me are the cancer drugs. I just picture a scene like: "Yeah, I know this is the Mayo Clinic and you're one of a few dozen oncologists who have handled a case like mine, but do you think Tumoraway would help?". face palm.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by SomeGuy on Saturday February 09 2019, @01:04PM
sideeffectsmayincludevomitingnauseaandpullingyourhairoutfromlisteningtosomeonetalktofast...
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 09 2019, @01:22PM (19 children)
It says list price before rebates, discounts and benefit managers.
What about the markup for buying in the US?
Xarelto cost $12.44 here compared to Canada's $2.11 price
https://nashp.org/is-it-safe-and-cost-effective-to-import-drugs-from-canada/ [nashp.org]
(Score: 2) by looorg on Saturday February 09 2019, @06:24PM (17 children)
That is what I would find the most interesting part to, price comparisons across borders. That said tho is the Canadian price before or after various government subsidies? After all they like most of the civilized western world have socialized medicine and care don't they?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday February 09 2019, @07:07PM (16 children)
Subsidies aren't a problem. I've loved a couple Canadians, so I'm entitled. In fact, one of those Canadians is a First Nations Canadian! Independent girl, said she didn't have much use for men. She used me, abused me, and sent me on my way.
I'm going to buy my defensive radar from Temu, just like Venezuela!
(Score: 3, Informative) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday February 09 2019, @11:41PM (15 children)
Oh, is *that* why you're such an asshole about women? It's interesting how these little tidbits of high-value information pop up in the most random places in your posts.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday February 10 2019, @03:21AM (14 children)
Jesus, girl, are the only people you know all warped, frustrated, deviants?
She used me, abused me, and sent me on my way. That DOES NOT mean that I hate her, or some such thing. Don't resent her. Not angry with her. You can stop projecting any day.
I'm going to buy my defensive radar from Temu, just like Venezuela!
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday February 10 2019, @03:47AM (13 children)
Whoa, wowwww...that reply was way, way too violent, specific, and forceful for that not to have hit a nerve. You really don't have a filter, do you?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday February 10 2019, @04:16AM (12 children)
It is what it is, and not what you wish it were. Why don't you try speaking English, and stop talking psychobabble?
I'm going to buy my defensive radar from Temu, just like Venezuela!
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday February 10 2019, @04:59AM (11 children)
Do you really not understand how your replies look to sane, normal people? At this point, even if I were wrong, people wouldn't believe it because of how you're reacting.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday February 10 2019, @05:59AM
Sane, normal people don't try to psychoanalyze their peers at every exchange. And, they certainly don't try to psychobabble at strangers on the internet.
Where did this conversation start? Oh yeah, I was mocking all the "entitled" people in the world. I've loved a couple of Canadian women, so I'm "entitled". I was used and abused by a First Nations woman. Maybe you should listen to a once-popular song, and maybe get some context. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeMFqkcPYcg [youtube.com]
I'm going to buy my defensive radar from Temu, just like Venezuela!
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday February 10 2019, @09:27AM (9 children)
I am kinda curious. When you have one of those nights, when you sit or stand straight up, out of a deep sleep, what was there?
I'm going to buy my defensive radar from Temu, just like Venezuela!
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday February 10 2019, @06:09PM (8 children)
I don't have those, which is a fucking miracle considering some of the things I've seen.
So, you *do* have those? I had no idea. Thanks for revealing yet another juicy tidbit about yourself that you might have been better off keeping under wraps, given how people already view your mental health. What do *you* see when they happen to you?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday February 11 2019, @01:41AM (7 children)
No, I don't have them. I've slain all my dragons, laid my ghosts to rest, and defeated all my enemies. Thank you for your interest though.
I'm going to buy my defensive radar from Temu, just like Venezuela!
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday February 11 2019, @05:51AM (6 children)
If you think I believe that, you might want to sell me that big bridge from back in my hometown. Your posts make it so obvious how broken you are, and hint at the specific ways in which you are broken, that this sort of denial isn't even funny in a sad way. Who do you think you're fooling? Yourself?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday February 11 2019, @06:24AM (5 children)
Projection. And, you know that I don't believe you, either. If your ghosts were all laid to rest, you wouldn't be so quick to attack me, and the other folk here who largely think like I do. (I certainly don't mean to imply that anyone here thinks a whole lot like I do, but some of us are similar, at least.) You and Ari are somewhat alike - you both fear me, and anyone vaguely like me. I just wanted to put a name, or a face, to your fears.
I'm going to buy my defensive radar from Temu, just like Venezuela!
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday February 11 2019, @06:30AM (4 children)
I have told you what my fears are already: raw evil, mass sociopathy, the moral and intellectual rot of the majority of the human race, living in the final days of civilization, watching it shamble off a cliff and drag me along kicking and screaming and cursing my fate. My fears, alas, are very real, and many friends of mine have died because of the results of them.
Somehow, this sort of thing never enters my dreams, which have a high rate of lucidity and often include lots of fun "sandox" exploration with telekinesis and other psionic powers. I look forward to sleeping and feel I don't get to enough.
Do I fear you? Not the way you think I do. I fear what you have become, and what you cannot see, and what you refuse to see, in yourself. I fear you because you are one of millions and millions. I fear you the way I fear any single infectious virus out of a mass of trillions of them. Yes, I fear you, because you are trying your level best to destroy your humanity while you still draw breath.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday February 11 2019, @07:02AM (3 children)
I can argue that mankind is an infectious virus . . . so even if I were what you believe me to be, then I would be "normal".
No need to worry so much though. The measles outbreak will induce a major die off soon enough. And, then all the rest of the White Horseman's bag of tricks.
I'm going to buy my defensive radar from Temu, just like Venezuela!
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday February 11 2019, @11:48PM (2 children)
You and people who think and act like you have summoned that Horseman. Your collective death-instinct is so powerful and so strongly expressed that it's becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. *That* is what I have a problem with: that the arc of the Reaper's scythe makes no distinction between the deserving and otherwise, and if anything tends to fall hardest on those who least deserve an untimely death.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday February 12 2019, @01:49AM (1 child)
*rolleyes*
I'm going to buy my defensive radar from Temu, just like Venezuela!
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday February 12 2019, @01:53AM
Well, shit, now THERE is a decisive victory. How in the hell am I ever gonna argue with that kind of erudition and wit and well-researched rebuttal?
Seriously though: shortest. concession. speech. EVER. At least you finally admit it.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Rich26189 on Saturday February 09 2019, @07:42PM
I've been using a Canadian on-line pharmacy aptly named http://www.canadapharmacyonline.com/ [canadapharmacyonline.com] * for about three years now. They offer maintenance meds, not short term stuff, at enough of a price savings compared to my local CVS to make the small effort and lead time worth it. E.g. my most expensive med was $3400/year out-of-pocket from CVS vs $3000/year from Canada.
I printed out their price list for my next most expensive med, an inhaler, and showed this to my doctor. There was a slight difference in dose per puff which meant I'd need fewer puffs per day. There was a larger number of doses per container in the Canadian version though the price per container was lower. This would save me about US$48/year ~10% overall. Same manufacturer as my US med just made in Canada. Interestingly, Doc said he'd have to hand-write the prescription because the electronic system he used was geared towards doses and dosage counts for meds as distributed in the US and it will not send to non-US based pharmacies. Getting a hand written Rx has not been a problem.
Those are the Pros the Cons, if any: They do not take insurance. Just create an account (free); fax them your prescription and send them the money they send you the meds. Currently they do not accept Visa CC, they did when I first began using them now I have to send them a check so there's roughly a week's transit time for them to get the check and another week to receive the meds via the postal service but have come through US Customs.
* No affiliation other than satisfied customer.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Saturday February 09 2019, @06:21PM
So it might include accurate information on everything except the only thing that might actually be interesting -- what it costs to manufacture it. So we still don't know how insanely high their profit margin is on their products.
It might be interesting if this could be useful for say compare medical process across different nations for the exact same product. To see which or whom pays the extra idiot-tax on their products.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 10 2019, @05:28AM
This means bupkis. The price gets bumped around, usually down, by volume and then insurance will pay their part. Also, a number of doctors I work with often give patients Xarelto samples which may cover them long enough just to get them off the drug - in which case, they're paying nothing. Some drug manufacturers offer rebates, too. Nice PR by J&J, tho.