In the bizarro profiteering world of the pharmaceutical industry, a 40-year-old cancer drug can increase in price by 1,400 percent in five years, and drug companies can spread the wealth around by funding new friends, with hundreds of millions of dollars finding their way to patient advocacy groups.
But there are some groups actually trying to help consumers limit the financial drain. Consumer Reports today is launching “National Save Money On Your Meds Week.”
They’ve created an easy, downloadable card that you can print out and keep in your wallet with the three key questions to ask your pharmacist to help get you the lowest prices on drugs. This will help consumers like you as you bring your prescriptions to your local pharmacy and ask the right questions to get the lowest possible price. They also want you to tell them about your experience.
“Seeing a patient give up needed medication or struggle to pay for food or housing because of high drug costs is devastating,” says Marvin M. Lipman, M.D., Consumer Reports’ chief medical adviser. “While it’s not always possible to limit those costs, it often is.”
Until there is a national concerted effort to negotiate prices down, it’s always best to be an informed consumer. Now Consumer Reports will help you do exactly that.
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