Why you should invest in Pharmaceutical Companies

Got my first bill. Thankfully I was sitting down:

(4) shots of Pegasys = $2,361.82
Ribavirin = 28 days supply = $358.73

Victrelis = not yet, but afraid to find out...

So, the doctor wants me on this for 11 months.

The cost for the Ribavirin and Pegasys only for that time = $29,926.05

Oh my..... I wish I would have invested in Merck 20 years ago instead of all the tequila I drank.... Dang it!

Magnum

[Anne1717]

Geez - I don't know.  How good was the tequila??

[flcyclist]

By the way, you weren't supposed to eat the worm....  ;)

[Anne1717]

Well, IF the worm bit someone who might have had Hep C before it ended up in the tequila, and then Magnum swallowed the worm, could he have contracted HCV in that way?  

[Magnum]

I'd rather eat worms daily than Riba, Victrelis & Pegasys.... You?

They’d have to be juicy though. Not dried up and screaming “help me, help me”.

Oh you guys are so funny. Have a worm on me....

Magnum

[Anne1717]

I will soon !!! Almost done

[curiouslady1]

A few dental implants cost that too.  They get you coming or going.  

[summer7799]

Please tell me that your insurance covered most of it????

[pjhep80]

add another 20k for the telepriv

[mykids247]

when I was talking with the nurse at the md.'s office today I asked if they had already submitted to my ins. co. I have united health care and they told me not to worry. Hello?? They said that even if ins. didnt cover it the drug companys have made provisions for people to get the drugs even if they cant afford it. Amazing. But still, thank god for Insurance! Insurance will also pay for supplements if you cant afford it, md. just has to write a script.

[cctex]

And here's another thing to watch out for!!!  I knew my meds were going to be more than what I could possibly afford so I wrote, emailed, and called every drug company and co-pay assistance agency I could find.  I found some help toward my Incivek and was happy.  Then I found some help for the Pegasys and Ribaviron.  (I thought!)  
The meds were delivered and they were similar, but not the same thing as what I had started on.  Turns out that after these folks made a big deal of "helping" me, they wrote to my Doc and had him re-write my prescription to Peg-Intron and Rebetrol because they were not going to pay for the Pegasys Kit & Riba.....no one contacted me about the change...and BINGO! I have a shipment of medication that I did not want, nor do I wish to take.  The Peg-Intron and Rebetrol made me really, really sick last time I was on it.  I feel GREAT on the new drugs.  I'd rather pay my co-pay (which is high for me at $650.01 per month) than have older drugs pushed at me.  What is going on in this world?!!!!!
Good luck - and if you want any email addresses or phone numbers - send me a note!

[desrt]

Drug prices to plummet in wave of expiring patents

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43882446/ns/health-health_care/



Chiron holds over 100 patents related to the HCV genome, which won't expire until 2015.

http://hepcproject.typepad.com/hep_c_project/2004/06/chirons_hepatit.html

[James10500]

Take a look at a pharmasset chart

http://investor.pharmasset.com/index.cfm

[Magnum]

Thankfully I just have to pay a co-pay which is not as painful. Somehow I don't feel sorry for insurance companies. I know they offer people help (after pulling teeth to get it, and possibly getting an attorney, and then waiting for them to appeal, appeal, appeal), but if I had the money I paid for a lifetime of insurance, I would surely be laying on the beach in the Bahamas sipping on a cool Pina Colada in the shade, instead of constantly dishing out money for meds and medical bills.

It must have been a peaceful easy feeling to live in a cave and go hunting for food once a day in the Stone Age. No property tax, association fees, income tax, state tax, road tax, luxury tax, estate tax, and soon the air that we breathe tax. Just got back from California and although I don’t smoke, there is no smoking in any bar in California, and soon to talking and no drinking... And before you ask, yes I’m sober...

Magnum