Doctors Profit From Selling Drugs
When a pharmacy sells the heartburn drug Zantac, each pill costs about 35 cents. But doctors dispensing it to patients in their offices have charged nearly 10 times that price, or $3.25 a pill.
The same goes for a popular muscle relaxant known as Soma, insurers say. From a pharmacy, the per-pill price is 60 cents. Sold by a doctor, it can cost more than five times that, or $3.33.
Barry Meier ad Katie Thomas in the NYT.
what a rippoff
Problem: there is no free market.
If sold by a pain med mill, it probably sells for far more. When mixed with Xanax or Hydrocodone, it creates a Heroin-like high. Drug-seekers love it.
“Problem: there is no free market.”
Nope, this is exactly how a free market works. Why shouldnt docs be able to sell the drugs at a high mark up? Consumers dont have to buy them. Markets determine a clearing price, not necessarily a lower price.
Steve
I gladly pay a dollar or so more for common antibiotics dispensed at the pediatrician’s office. This is a deal because it gets a sick and whiny kid back to bed faster. Plus, there are gains from the opportunity cost of my time.
Of course, with a high deductible policy my insurer doesn’t care. I’m spending my money to save my time.
If I were buying a muscle relaxant the pain level would probably be pretty high. Would it be worth an extra $30 to avoid a trip to the pharmacy? Probably would depend on whether the pharmacy was on the way, could fill the prescription fast, and had a drive thru window or not.
As Steve said, pills at a physician’s office are not the same as those at a pharmacy. Time and transport matter.
If doctors had to compete with pharmacies on price, they would likely not offer any drugs. Linda is correct — people are often willing to pay for convenience.
If you read the commments over at Pharmalot (http://www.pharmalot.com/2012/07/profiting-from-pills-should-doctors-dispense/#comment-658390), commenters who appear to be expert insiders state that no carrier in comprehensive health insurance pays for repackaged pills dispensed by physicians.
The article seems to focus on workers’ comp plans as paying these apparently high prices. It looks like this is a flaw in workers’ comp, although neither the NY Times nor anyone else (including me) can put their finger on it.
If so, this is a symptom and not a cause. Simply outlawing the practice, as Rep. Hays in Florida proposes, without understanding the cause will lead to unintendend consequences.