Dear AARP

  I am writing this to ask you to investigate the ever-rising rate of Drug Prices. It appears to me that the Drug Companies are raising drug prices not because they have to, or because of higher production costs, but more because they can get away with it.

  I say this because I am a Senior Citizen and have some of the ailments that are prevalent among the elderly. And as long as Insurance Companies and Medicare are willing to pay for these medications, the Drug Barons are constantly increasing the prices that must be paid.

  One case in point is Xalatan, (Pronounced Zalatan, but it seems that the Drug Barons can’t spell either). This is a medication that is used as Eye drops to control the internal pressure in the Eyeballs caused by Glaucoma, an ailment suffered by many seniors.

  The cost of this medication on Feb 15 2001 was  $50.99 for a bottle containing 2.5 Milliliters. On Apr 30 2001 that same size container cost $54.99. And on Sept 19 2001 it was $55.99, and on June 10 2002 it went up to $58.99. That is about a 15.5% increase in a little more than a year. And as of Oct 24 2003 it is $69.99, which means it has increased about 38% in less than three years.

  Let us look a little deeper into the actual price of this precious elixir. The amount in the container is 2.5 ml (Milliliters), but the container is only half full. They give the reason for this is that it makes it easier to use it properly, but I believe that a container that would be sized hold 2.5 ml would be too small for many to grasp, as no other Eye Drop Medication comes in a half full dispenser. That leads me to wonder about the honesty and sincerity of the producer, right from the beginning.

  There are 29.57 Milliliters in one US Liquid Ounce, and as the 2.5 ml costs $69.99, One ml would cost $27.996. So one Ounce of this medication costs $827.84172. And as there are 128 ounces per gallon, one US Gallon of it would cost $105,963.74+. What Mystical Magical Ingredient is in this concoction that could justify this unearthly price? What research has been done during these past three years that can be attributed to justify the nearly 40% increase in the price of the identical product in exactly the identical container of 3 years ago.

  Or might it be that Pharmica & Upjohn has found out that they can get away with it? And the insurance companies just raise their premiums to cover their increased costs. Is it possible that there are other drug companies that are ballooning their prices as well? Is it possible that they figure that most Senior Citizens are senile and won’t notice the difference anyway?

  I think it is time to start investigating to find out why these prices are going up and up and up. Is it possible that there might be some fringe benefit packages around the boardroom, that can’t be covered any other way? 

     Sincerely,   R. J. MacLachlan,  Manchester, CT 

This letter was originally written November 18 2003

Posted by rj06042 at 3:38 PM EST

Updated: Thursday, 22 February 2007 4:01 PM EST

Share This Post

Post Comment | View Comments (1) | Permalink

 Hiding the High Cost of Drugs, or Why the Republicans Need Medicare Part-D

 Did you ever wonder why the Republican Party passed the Bill to establish Medicare Part D? Was it to make things easier for Senior Citizens? Was it to establish a Federally Funded Entitlement for the General Public as they reach Old Age?

  Get real !

   The Republican Party does everything within its power to eliminate Federally Funded Entitlement Programs, as well as State, County, or Municipal Entitlements. The Republican Party does everything in its power to eliminate Federal Power and any kind of Giveaway Programs. So what’s the catch?

  The catch is that the Drug Prices are and were going up at such a rapid rate, to allow the Drug Companies to keep increasing their prices; they had to hide the obvious increases. How is that possible you ask? Develop a program where the people do not actually pay for the drugs any more. Develop a program where the people are forced into buying an Insurance Policy to pay for a percentage of the cost, and the individuals pay the rest and they call it a Co-Pay amount.

  Now the Prescription Manufactures can keep increasing their prices and the Insurance Companies will keep paying the increased cost and the Co-Pay will go up a small amount, and not too many people will complain. Then every few months the Insurance Company will have to increase the premium they charge t cover the high cost of doing business, and the Drug companies will be free to raise prices again.

  Of course much of the money will come from the millions of dollars that were set aside years ago in a program called Social Security, set up for the Senior Citizens to retire on, that the US Government has been dipping into for years. Kind of like Daddy breaking into his kid’s Piggy Banks, to get money to pay his Bar Bill. Keep in mind that Social Security never was a Federally Funded Program, but was a type of Insurance whose monies Employees and Employers contributed on a 50/50 basis, and the Government is and was supposed to be the Trustee of the fund. Soon the Social Security fund will be gone and the CEOs and Board of Directors of the Drug and Insurance companies will all be Billionaires.

  It is happening while we watch

Posted by rj06042 at 10:37 PM EST

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink