Future problems in pharmacy

[UNMorBUST]

Just wanted to correct u on never finding more than 1 pharmacist at a retail store... I live in so cal and we are NOT a 24 hr store. M-F we have 2 pharmacists on staff... then again it has nothing much to do with this topic.

But i agree with the drive-thru issue. Dont ppl have a lack of respect for the pharmacy profession already?

People love their convienence. Can't wait for the drive-thru physical exam.

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[DaddyOAK]

Just wanted to correct u on never finding more than 1 pharmacist at a retail store... I live in so cal and we are NOT a 24 hr store. M-F we have 2 pharmacists on staff... then again it has nothing much to do with this topic.

I'd agree with this as well. Our store is one of the few pharmacies in our area that DOESN'T have 2+ on duty at any given time. I'm sure this is regional--it certainly isn't corporate as these stores are the same big-names already thrown around.

 

[trailrider400]

That is a good question. How is it possible for a pharmacist to make 100K a year if the prescriptions are costing patients $4 dollars only??? Are these people on medicaid or are these drugs really that cheap??? I figure the drug itself proberly cost MORE then $4 to produce..

One reason they can sell them at $4 is because they are very inexpensive generics. A 30 day rx of levothyroxine or simvastatin costs $4 dollars at walmart and only costs around $4-$8 dollars for a 100ct bottle. My PM where work said its costs us (everything include - labor, cost, etc.) around $6 to fill one of these prescriptions. So yes I'm sure they are taking a loss but like the other person said the big chains have other ways to make up for it. And patients on medicaid may pay only a dollar or 2 but medicaid is not getting the 4$ price and will pick up the rest of the 20-30$. I don't like the fact that many prescriptions are marked up 1000% but 4 dollar generics and drive thrus just cheepen the profession. I told someone the other day that it would take 15-20 minutes for his rx and he rolled his eyes at me. Welcome to mcdonalds how may I help you?

 

[SHC1984]

One reason they can sell them at $4 is because they are very inexpensive generics. A 30 day rx of levothyroxine or simvastatin costs $4 dollars at walmart and only costs around $4-$8 dollars for a 100ct bottle. My PM where work said its costs us (everything include - labor, cost, etc.) around $6 to fill one of these prescriptions. So yes I'm sure they are taking a loss but like the other person said the big chains have other ways to make up for it. And patients on medicaid may pay only a dollar or 2 but medicaid is not getting the 4$ price and will pick up the rest of the 20-30$. I don't like the fact that many prescriptions are marked up 1000% but 4 dollar generics and drive thrus just cheepen the profession. I told someone the other day that it would take 15-20 minutes for his rx and he rolled his eyes at me. Welcome to mcdonalds how may I help you?

I see...I can't believe drugs are marked up that high. Why is accutane and ALL its generics so expensive then????? Is it b/c its the only acne medication that really works?

I TOTALLY understand what you mean by retail. You get absolutely no presitage or respect with that job....but then again if someone wants presitage they should be a MD instead. I work at retail and don't think its that bad...but than again I know I am werid b/c I worked at an upscale thai restaurant waiting tables and thought the job was good too....99.9999999999% of the population hates waitressing but I don't think its bad.

 

[OTFuturePharmD]

The drug companies charge enough money to recoup the amount of money that they invested in the drug to bring it to the market as well as to pay for all of the other drugs that did not make it to the market. Drug companies also have to finance the research for the drugs of the future. Generic companies are not developing the the drugs of the future, they are only stealing the development of the large pharma companines and trying to make a profit off of it. Once the big pharma companies go under due to the loss of their patents, who will bring new drugs to the market?

P.S.
No small pharma company can afford to bring a drug through all fo the clinical phases and to market without the help of a large pharm company.

I agree with you. And no I am not a spokesperson for pharma. Let's look at the cost for pharma to bring a new cancer drug to market. It takes a minimum of 10 years and $1billion to bring a new cancer drug to market. Pharma then has any where from 3-5 years left on the patent to recoup the $1billion plus make a little bit of profit to bank roll the next new cancer drug. Plus with in the first year of bringing a drug to market a generic company will take them to court and contest the patent and try to start putting a generic version on the market. This is why the cost of new drugs is so high. There is a delicate business balance that pharma is always trying to maintain with the cost of research, operations, marketing, lawyers and having a fair cost of a new drug.

 

[trailrider400]

I see...I can't believe drugs are marked up that high. Why is accutane and ALL its generics so expensive then????? Is it b/c its the only acne medication that really works?

I TOTALLY understand what you mean by retail. You get absolutely no presitage or respect with that job....but then again if someone wants presitage they should be a MD instead. I work at retail and don't think its that bad...but than again I know I am werid b/c I worked at an upscale thai restaurant waiting tables and thought the job was good too....99.9999999999% of the population hates waitressing but I don't think its bad.

I don't know about accutane specifically because its been around for a long time but I think it may have something to do with the nature of the drug in that it can be dangerous and the price helps pad the companies against any possible lawsuits (but on this example I'm really not to sure). But the reason some generics are more expensive than others depends largely on how new they are. Take imitrex for example. A generic for imitrex just came out (summatriptan or however you spell it) and I believe there is only one generic offered. This means that the company offering the generic can still sell their drug at a high price say $80 vs $120. There are now only two big players and the generic can still sell their drug at a high price. An older generic (which isn't even that old) simvastatin is manufactured by many different companies (I believe mylan, sandoz, and many others) and therefor there is more competition. Another factor is the cost of production which I don't know a ton about. Byetta is the synthetic version of lizard spit and premarin is made from pregnant horse piss. I'd imagine both of these would never be a 4$ generic.

 

[pharmplz11]

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[pharmacyanalyst]

Pharmacists need to lose the "pill dispenser" label and branch out into things like preventative care and MTM (medication therapy management). Pharmacists have so much more value add to offer than just checking to see if the pill is blue with a 2 on it.

 

[pharmacyanalyst]

You must not own your own business or work at an independent pharmacy. If you price your drugs at $4 even when the cost is under that you will close your doors. You have a $50 an hour pharmacist, 2 $10-15/hour techs, and a $7-10 clerk...at a minimum. You also have to pay for electricity, water, pharmacy software support, transaction fees, printer ink and paper. The list can go on as I'm quite sure I forgot something. If you expect to stay in business selling prescriptions as your main source of income and you do under 250 Rx's per day, you cannot sell it at $4 even if it cost $1 for you. That's not to say you can't sell it for $8 or $10 or even $15 but you have to make at least a little bit of profit or you're out of a job. You can't help anyone if you can't pay the bills, you have to find a happy medium.

That's not extirely true. The margin on most generics is huge even with a $4 cost. You'd be surprised on the actual cost of things that have been out forever- some are less than a penny per pill. Brands are where you pretty much break even because unless you are a big corp with rebates, you are paying sticker price. If you sign with a wholesaler, they usually give you great pricing on generics because they are making their money off brands through rebates, payment terms, chargebacks, etc with the manufacturer.

 

[bigpharmD]

I see...I can't believe drugs are marked up that high. Why is accutane and ALL its generics so expensive then????? Is it b/c its the only acne medication that really works?

I TOTALLY understand what you mean by retail. You get absolutely no presitage or respect with that job....but then again if someone wants presitage they should be a MD instead. I work at retail and don't think its that bad...but than again I know I am werid b/c I worked at an upscale thai restaurant waiting tables and thought the job was good too....99.9999999999% of the population hates waitressing but I don't think its bad.

Do you know any physicians, ask them what they think about that statement...