Saving Money on Medicine

The cost of prescription medicine has been skyrocketing. What about those who don't have insurance and are not old enough to quality for Medicare? What can they do? Is shopping for medicines in Canada or Mexico a viable option or is it an illegal activity?

Possible Choices

• Sometimes working as a volunteer at a medical institution or hospital will qualify the volunteer for medication at a discount rate equal to that of an employee at that same location.
• It remains illegal to traffic prescription drugs over country boarders via normal regular transportation. However, for the most part, people are not having their normal prescription medicines confiscated at the boarder.
• Online sales (medicine purchase services providing outside the US prescription medicine) are becoming increasingly more popular. However, the FDA warns against drugs possibly not being the same as in the US. This is in spit of the fact that there has been no incident sited of a lesser quality or milligram difference when ordering through say Canada's regulated pharmaceutical system.

   

  • See: The Canadian Drugstore, an online pharmacy service 
    http://www.thecanadiandrugstore.com/   or   www.tcds.com/ 

    Also See: http://www.canadianpharmacylink.com/    

    • Canadian Pharmacy Link developed as a single-source for Americans to obtain prescription medications at savings of up to 80% off. Because we represent some of Canada's leading pharmacies we are able to offer you more than any other single Canadian pharmacy.

    Also See: http://www.canadadiscountpharmacy.com/ 

    • Save 40-91% with confidence at Canada Discount Pharmacy .com when you buy your prescriptions drugs for less from our fully licensed Canadian Pharmacy here. At Canada Discount Pharmacy .com We specialize in filling prescription drugs orders for Residents of the United States from our Canadian Drugstore. It is safe, secure and the easy way to get low cost prescriptions through a Canadian Pharmacy.

    Also See: http://www.pillbot.com/ 

    • PillBot.com is the most advanced prescription comparison shopping guide on the Internet.

      And now searching for the "Best" price has never been easier. Simply type the name of the medication in the box above and click submit (See their website). You may also conduct your search alphabetically via the PillBot Drug Index. PillBot.com has partnered with PBRx.com in order to provide you with special features like health related content. So, whether you're a senior, baby boomer, or expectant mother, PBRx.com has answers to your important health questions.

   

  • Sales of product in the US     Accupril Altace Atenolol Cardizem Celexa Clonidine Diazepam Estrace Glucophage Imitrex Levaquin Lortab Naproxen Plavix Prevacid Proventil Roxicet Trazodone Verapamil Zestril  Adalat CC Amaryl Avapro Cardura Cephalexin Coumadin Diflucan Evista Glucotrol Isosorbide Lipitor Macrobid Neurontin Plendil Provera Prozac Serzone Trimethoprim Viagra Ziac Albuterol Ambien Axid Ceftin Cipro Cozaar Diovan Flomax Glyburide Lamisil Lorazepam Metoprolol Nitrostat Pravachol Prilosec Ranitidine Singulair Trimox Vioxx Zithromax Allegra Amoxicillin Biaxin Cefzil Claritin Depakote Effexor Fosamax Hytrin Lanoxin Lotensin Mevacor Norvasc Prednisone Prinivil Relafen Temazepam Ultram Wellbutrin SR Zocor Alprazolam Aricept BuSpar Celebrex Clonazepam Detrol Ery-Tab Gemfibrozil Imdur Lescol Lotrel Monopril Paxil Premarin Procardia XL Risperdal Tiazac Vasotec Zestoretic Zyprexa

     

  Also See: http://www.americaninsurancedepot.com/drugstore.htm 

  The Best Drugstore Sites

  The epharmacy and drugstore links from around the world listed below (see the above site) are here because their web sites offer lower prices, quick delivery, good information and good service at their web site.  Quite often you can get your medication needs filled more effectively from another country than you can at your local pharmacy, but not always.  Remember that if a deal seems to be too good to be true, it probably is.  Also take into consideration that other countries are not governed by the stringent FDA guidelines and the medications you receive may not be consistently of full strength.  On the other hand, other countries may not be limited by those guidelines and the dose could actually be STRONGER than you are used to.

  If you are looking for better insurance values, Compare what you have to pay now with what we find.  See if the savings don't average 46% better than what you expect  Click on any type of insurance you have (or want to have) and then safely compare prices and values.  Health * Life * Auto * Home * Long Term Care * International * Legal * Other.  Use Our FREE Quote Service and See if you can't save $100 or more!

  You can also get extremely low medication prices from the pharmacy you are already using with some of the discount medical card services found by Clicking HERE. Senior Americans in need of prescription assistance, click HERE.   Wednesday, July 11, 2001  House OKs Foreign Drug Mail Orders  WASHINGTON (AP) - Consumers seeking to save on prescription costs would be allowed to buy medicines from abroad by mail order under legislation the House approved Wednesday. Lawmakers soundly rejected a broader measure that would have permitted distributors to import American-made pharmaceuticals that are sold more cheaply in other countries because of price controls. The Food and Drug Administration opposed both measures, saying it cannot guarantee whether imported drugs are safe or effective. People caught ordering drugs from foreign sources frequently get warning letters from the FDA. Prescription drugs can cost three to four times less in Europe and Canada than they cost in the United States. A 30-day supply of Claritin, an allergy medication, costs $63 in the United States, compared to $16 in Europe, according to the Life Extension Foundation, an advocacy group.

• The following information is seen on the http://www.thecanadiandrugstore.com/ website or by clicking here 

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Defending your Rights The info. in this box came from The Canadian Drugstore, an online pharmacy service  http://www.thecanadiandrugstore.com/   or   www.tcds.com/  This page is dedicated to helping our customers defend their right to buy affordable medication from Canada .  THE ISSUE GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the second largest drug manufacturer in the world, wants to stop you from buying your medicine from Canada .  Starting January 21, GSK has refused to supply any Canadian pharmacy that fills prescriptions for customers in the United States . If you want to read the full text of GSK’s statement on this issue, click here: http://www.gsk.com/media/pressreleases.htm then scroll down to "January 21, 2003" OUR RESPONSE On February 3, 2003, we launched a campaign encouraging all of our customers to take immediate and direct action to defend their right to choose affordable prescription drugs. To read our communication to customers, click here To read our media release, click here To read the customer responses to our letter regarding GSK, click here To read the customer letters sent to GSK, Senators, Congressmen, etc., click here HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO 1.           Tell GSK to put PEOPLE before PROFITS For information on how to contact GSK to make your opinion known, click here. 2.         Make sure YOUR voice is heard For information on how to contact national and local news media  — as well as your elected representatives — click here. 3.         HIT THEM WHERE IT HURTS Profits seem to be the only thing GSK cares about.  Click here for information on how to hit them where they’ll feel it.

Click here to see AARP's price comparison. TCDS beats U.S. pricing by up to 50%! or ---- http://www.aarp.org/bulletin/departments/2001/medicare/0805_sidebar_1.html  or ---- view this excerpt. One Week in the Life of Retail and Discount Drug Prices   Average Retail of Washington Area Pharmacies* Merck- Medco- Readers Digest "YOUR XPLAN" AARP Pharmacy "Members Choice" Drug store.com The Canadian Drugstore. com Lipitor 20 mg.30 tabs; cholesterol 101.34 80.42 m 85.26 p 84.19 m 88.33 p 84.43 55.65 Prilosec 20 mg.30 tabs; ulcers/ heartburn 135.82 108.87 m 115.79 p 109.67 m 112.45 p 108.04 78.11 Celebrex 200 mg.30 caps; arthritis 86.56 64.98 m 68.69 p 64.18 m 71.20 p 69.46 45.78 Annual enrollment fee   $25 individual $40 family 64.18 m 71.20 p None None Regular mail express charges vary   Free $2.25 Free $5 per prescription *Calulated from prices at 12 chain and independent pharmacies; averages reflect 10% senior discounts given by some pharmacies. NOTE: All Prices compiled in one week in July 2001. Prices may vary from day to day. Greater savings may be gained on 90-day supplies.   Drug Discounts… Will Bush Plan Save You $$$? By Patricia Barry September 2001 Announcing his new plan for a Medicare prescription drug discount card, President Bush said: "Present the card at a participating pharmacy and you receive a substantial discount. It's as simple as that." Thomas Scully, head of the federal agency that runs Medicare, agrees. He calls it a good "no-brainer" idea that—until a Medicare drug benefit works its way through Congress—will provide immediate relief with no need for new legislation and at little cost to the government. But the prescription drug issue is seldom simple and this idea has sparked controversy, too. Richard Gephardt, Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, calls it a "meaningless gesture" that might delay passage of a real drug benefit in Medicare. Several national associations of pharmacists have filed a lawsuit against the plan, saying it was hatched "in secret" and is "unlawful" and "unworkable." For Medicare beneficiaries without year-round insurance, though, the key question is how far the card will actually reduce their drug costs. Retail prices in one urban area varied widely at randomly selected pharmacies—from $71 to $121 for 30 pills of Lipitor. Scully concedes that at least initially the discounts—estimated as 10 to 25 percent off brand name retail prices (maybe more for generics)—may be no greater than those in existing discount plans. These range from discounts at neighborhood pharmacies to nationwide plans on the Internet. But long term he expects "volume"—"the purchasing clout of millions of seniors," in Bush's words—to produce deeper discounts for older and disabled Americans. Some analysts question whether volume alone will allow the companies running the program to wrest significantly lower prices from the drugmakers—a complex process—and how much of those savings will be passed on to customers. Under the Bush plan, any Medicare beneficiary can enroll in one of several competing discount programs run by pharmacy benefit management companies (PBMs), which already negotiate prices for health plans and other groups. At press time it was not known how many PBMs Medicare will license to take part. AARP, which has run its own drug discount program for members since 1959, intends to apply. Some programs will offer mail order as well as pharmacy-based services. Not all will offer every drug, nor operate in every locality. Joining will cost a one-time fee of up to $25 (though some cards may cost less). You can sign up with only one program at a time but can switch to another after six months. Enrollment is scheduled to begin Nov. 1, 2001, with discounts available from Jan. 1, 2002. Medicare will advertise the program nationally and answer beneficiaries' questions on its hotline, (800) 633-4227. Starting Jan. 1, 2003, the PBMs will be required to post their comparative prices on a joint website. That will be the first time consumers have ever been able to see a range of drug prices at a single glance. To illustrate the value of such comparisons, the AARP Bulletin compiled some prices for three brand name drugs often used by older Americans. [See chart above.] Retail prices in one urban area, for instance, varied widely at randomly selected pharmacies during one week in July—from $71 to $121 for 30 pills in the case of Lipitor, which lowers cholesterol. Among existing nationwide discount plans, prices were only a few dollars apart. The deepest discounts came from Canada, where drug prices are limited by law. Billy Shawn, president of one Internet pharmacy, TheCanadianDrugstore.com, declines to say how many U.S. prescriptions he fills. "But there are lots, and it's growing every day," he says. More than 80 percent of his American customers, he adds, are over age 60. Importing drugs from Canada for personal use remains open to challenge. Recently the House passed enabling legislation by a huge majority. If the bill passes the Senate and is sent to Bush, the president may face a dilemma: whether to sign into law a measure that could substantially undercut the prices in his own drug discount plan.

Radio Programs Saving Money on Medicine #456 June 21, 2003 The cost of prescription medicine has been skyrocketing. Politicians have been promising a Medicare drug benefit for years. Now, there is a glimmer of possibility that it could become reality. How will it work? Will people actually save money? And what about those who don't have insurance and are not old enough to quality for Medicare? What can they do? Is shopping for medicines in Canada or Mexico a viable option or is it an illegal activity? GUESTS: Bill Hubbard, FDA Associate Commissioner for Policy and Planning; Billy Shawn, Founder of Canada Drug Store, an online pharmacy service, AARP will present the senior citizen perspective. To order a copy of this radio show you can call (800) 732-2334. Shows are available on CD for maximum sound quality. The cost, including shipping and handling, is $15. Visa, MasterCard and Discover are accepted, or you can send a check for $15 to: Graedons' People's Pharmacy (Show #, date or topic); PO Box 52027; Durham, NC 27717-2027.

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