If You Are A Republican, and Are Not Outraged By This...
Jason
a fucking thing from you about "the sancticiity of life" ever again.
**************************
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/03/10/premature-birth-drug.html
The price of preventing preterm labour is about to go through the roof
in the U.S.
A drug for high-risk pregnant women has cost about $10 to $20 per
injection. Next week, the price shoots up to about $1,450 a dose,
meaning the total cost during a pregnancy could be as much as $29,000.
That's because the drug, a form of progesterone given as a weekly
shot, has been made cheaply for years, mixed in special pharmacies
that custom-compound treatments that are not federally approved.
But recently, KV Pharmaceutical of suburban St. Louis won U.S.
government approval to exclusively sell the drug, known as Makena or
hydroxyprogesterone caproate. The March of Dimes and many
obstetricians supported that because it means quality will be more
consistent and it will be easier to get. It is not listed in Health
Canada's online database of approved drugs.
None of the groups anticipated the dramatic price hike, though —
especially since most of the cost for development and research was
shouldered by others in the past.
"That's a huge increase for something that can't be costing them that
much to make. For crying out loud, this is about making money," said
Dr. Roger Snow, deputy medical director for Massachusetts' Medicaid
program.
"I've never seen anything as outrageous as this," said Dr. Arnold
Cohen, an obstetrician at Albert Einstein Medical Center in
Philadelphia.
Doctors say the price hike may deter low-income women from getting the
drug, leading to more premature births. And it will certainly be a
huge financial burden for health insurance companies and government
programs that have been paying for it.
The cost is justified to avoid the mental and physical disabilities
that can come with very premature births, said KV Pharmaceutical chief
executive Gregory J. Divis Jr. The cost of care for a preemie is
estimated at $51,000 in the first year alone.
"Makena can help offset some of those costs," Divis told The
Associated Press. "These moms deserve the opportunity to have the
benefits of an FDA-approved Makena."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is not involved in setting the
price for the drugs it approves.
A KV subsidiary, Ther-Rx Corp., will market the drug. It has announced
a patient assistance program designed to help uninsured and low-income
women get the drug at little or no cost.
But Snow and others said someone is going to have to pay the higher
price. Some of the burden will fall on health insurance companies,
which will have to raise premiums or other costs to their other
customers. And some will fall on cash-strapped state Medicaid
programs, which may be forced to stop paying for the drug or enroll
fewer people.
"There's no question they can't afford this," said Matt Salo,
executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors.
Salo and Snow said they do not know how many state Medicaid programs
currently pay for Makena, which as a generic, hydroxyprogesterone
caproate, was recommended by the American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists.
Makena is a synthetic form of the hormone progesterone that first came
on the market more than 50 years ago to treat other problems. Hormone
drugs came under fire in the 1970s, following reports they might
damage fetuses in early pregnancy. In the 1990s, the early incarnation
of Makena was withdrawn from the market.
But the drug got a new life in 2003, with publication of a study that
reported it helped prevent early births to women who had a history of
spontaneous preterm deliveries.
These very early births produce children who — if they survive — need
months of intensive care and often suffer disabilities. The cause of
sudden preterm delivery is not understood, but it occurs in black
mothers at much higher rates than whites or Hispanics.
The study of women at risk for this condition found that only about 36
per cent of those given the progesterone drug had preterm births,
compared with 55 per cent among those not on the drug.
It's believed the treatment calms the muscles of the uterus, experts
said.
Common side-effects included pain, swelling or itching at the
injection site; hives, nausea and diarrhea, according to the FDA.
Serious adverse reactions are rare, although there was a report of a
blood clot in the lungs and another of infection at the injection
site, the agency noted.
Jason
syvyn11
Welcome to three days ago, when I posted this!
Hey, you guys wanted Obama DEATH Care!
GregoryD
> ....you're a fucking elephant-sized POS and I don't ever want to hear
> a fucking thing from you about "the sancticiity of life" ever again.
>
Does this also apply to the President who is currently responsible for
the administration of the agency that allowed this to take place?
--
GregoryD
Jason
First of all, president is not a Republican. (of course admittedly
sometimes he sure acts like it)
Second of all:
"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is not involved in setting the
price for the drugs it approves."
Jason
Jason
Yeah...but everybody ignores everything you have to say so....
> Hey, you guys wanted Obama DEATH Care!-
That's a lie and you know it.
Jason
Mhoram
news:d8f6fd47-5e5c-4f46...@j35g2000prb.googlegroups.com...
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http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/03/10/premature-birth-drug.html
Jason
*************************
Less than 2 minutes of googling shows that:
1) The 'compounded' drug Delalutin was pulled from the market for
"financial reasons". The 'generic' has been made in pharmacies since then
when prescribed leading to a great amount of variability in dose/quality.
2) There were major concerns about birth defects using it until just
recently.
3) KV is now producing a quality-controlled, dose-reliable formulation
that will give prescribing doctors a sense of security in knowing that the
formula is: consistent, FDA approved, and not a financial disaster.
4) The compounded product (made-up in pharmacies) will still be available
but most likely not prescribed because there will be no defense against
sue-happy Americans. Sure, they were using it off-label before, but that's
before a 'safer' alternative was available.
5) KV is taking a lot of financial risk due to the extreme litigation
climate that revolves around obstetrics. I.e. they're mass producing a
drug to give to pregnant women that until very recently was considered to
cause birth defects.
To summarize: it's going to cost a lot to cover development costs (making a
large volume, consistent quality product) and court costs from mom's who
have adverse events which will inevitably be linked to the drug by layperson
juries.
rwa2play, looking for Dogbert
Jason
> "Jason" <janklowic...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
If the risk of lititgation is so great why was the unstable, highly
variable, and side-effects-gving Delalutin available so cheaply?
How many lawsuits did the company get from women using it?
And like the guy said: $1500? The new drug probably should be more
expensive sure, but $1500?? A SHOT?
Jason
GregoryD
> On Mar 17, 10:50 am, GregoryD<deergrego...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 3/17/2011 8:43 AM, Jason wrote:
>>
>>> ....you're a fucking elephant-sized POS and I don't ever want to hear
>>> a fucking thing from you about "the sancticiity of life" ever again.
>>
>> Does this also apply to the President who is currently responsible for
>> the administration of the agency that allowed this to take place?
>>
>> --
>> GregoryD
>
> First of all, president is not a Republican. (of course admittedly
> sometimes he sure acts like it)
You didn't answer the question.
> Second of all:
>
> "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is not involved in setting the
> price for the drugs it approves."
>
>
You still did not answer the question. One of the reasons that we have
anti-trust and anti-monopoly laws in the first place is so that
companies do not have the unilateral capacity to set prices for goods
and services.
Trying to absolve the FDA from the price fixing scheme of this other
company is like trying to absolve an arsonist because he wasn't ACTUALLY
the fire that burned someone's house down, he only set it.
--
GregoryD
Karolina Dean......Now with flavor crystals
FDA is more or less OWNED by Big Pharma (which being corporations also
OWN ALL "GOD and country" Republicans
Killfile Victim #847238
... AND Democrats (that includes 'Independent' Izzy Lieberman, my
Senator). Whether we want to believe it or not, Big Biz has its
greedy claws into both sides of the aisle. They shift so slightly to
whichever way the wind blows to get the biggest bang for their buck.
Mhoram
Jason
******************
I guess I'll give you the answer you're craving: pharmacy companies are
evil and hate mankind. They thrive only on tears of misery and eat human
babies for breakfast. There is no other logical explanation for why certain
drugs cost so much. You have ripped away the veil of secrecy that has been
up for decades and they have no right to do so. We should storm their
office Waco-style and make them give their product away for free.
BUZZKILL
"Jason" <janklo...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:9e5cce81-980f-4151...@y31g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
> On Mar 17, 10:50 am, GregoryD <deergrego...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 3/17/2011 8:43 AM, Jason wrote:
>>
>> > ....you're a fucking elephant-sized POS and I don't ever want to hear
>> > a fucking thing from you about "the sancticiity of life" ever again.
>>
>> Does this also apply to the President who is currently responsible for
>> the administration of the agency that allowed this to take place?
>>
>> --
>> GregoryD
>
> First of all, president is not a Republican. (of course admittedly
> sometimes he sure acts like it)
He is a Republican. He's pro-big business, gave large corporations a bail
out, he's anti-legalization, he's anti-gay marriage, his administration
wants to make it a FELONY to watch TV online. Yep, sounds like a Republican
to me. And you Repubs still hate him.
--
Down the left hand highway with no sinister regrets
BUZZKILL
"BUZZKILL" <wat...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:im156k$l1t$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
He also gave a tax cut to the very rich. What else do you want out of him?
If he were a white Republican with the exact same policies, you would be
worshiping him.
GregoryD
The FDA is run by the administration. It's their responsibility to make
sure that they do the job equitably. If they aren't, then they should
shoulder the blame.
If the FDA is that big of a clusterfuck, then it needs to be
restructured or abolished and a new regulatory agency needs to be
established.
GregoryD