What is your opinion on Vets giving medications to patients and charging 500-1000% more than they could purchase it for at a regular pharmacy. I recently went to my vet and was charged 80 dollars for medications I could have gotten at a regular pharmacy for about 15-18 dollars. The Vet never mentions once that I have the option to take physical prescriptions to the pharmacy of my choice. As someone who is familiar with medications I know that I can get them cheaper but the average person thinks getting them from their vet is their only option. I just feel as if I was taken advantage of by being tremendously overcharged. What is your guys' take on this? When I posted this on the Vet forum they got pretty upset with me and stated that "Veterinarians have a lot of debt and need to make profit anyway they can." They didn't seem to find anything ethically wrong with charging someone 80 dollars for 15 dollars worth of medications.
Opinion on Vets and Meds?
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It's total crap...I guess they do it because they can. Though its of questionable ethics to upcharge THAT MUCH, IMO. Same upcharge as any other pharmacy...fine. My vet tried the same crap with my cat's conjuctivitis. Neo/poly/dex drops...tried to charge me $80 for it. I wasn't having it.
Honestly, I feel the same way about some prescriptions. The profit on cash customers can be ridiculous...but a pharmacist can't control what the corporate overlords want to charge...a vet still can practice business autonomy...
Next time, ask for a prescription. Be an informed consumer...
Honestly, I feel the same way about some prescriptions. The profit on cash customers can be ridiculous...but a pharmacist can't control what the corporate overlords want to charge...a vet still can practice business autonomy...
Next time, ask for a prescription. Be an informed consumer...
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It does suck, but I guess as long as they'd give you an rx when asked, it would be fine. Probably not necessary to make an offer. Now stuff like Heartguard and Interceptor, not many pharmacies stock that stuff, so I can understand those. But methimazole, prednisone, etc, is ridiculous to charge so much.
This drives me crazy too. We used to be able to override prices up until a little while ago. Drugs that cost us pennies have an arbitrary price of $68.73? No way, do $20 or less. Unfortunately some idiots were making overrides that lost loads of money, rather than make a modest profit and built loyalty, so now we can't do it at all.
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Supposedly a local vet has told one of our pharmacy students "no" when asked for a hard copy rx to take to a pharmacy. I'm taking UF's vet pharmacy course, and one of the topics covered is the loss of profits from medications sold in the vet's office since so many owners are opting to use online pharmacies instead, or Wal-Mart.
Seems like they should be grateful they've made money off the medications for so long. Two vets selling the same product across the street from one another don't have to agree on a price or follow a guide line. It's up to the practice to set the price.
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Vets have got to have the worst income to debt ratio. Currently taking a veterinary pharmacy class taught partially by a veterinarian...and the thing you have to understand that is actually where vets make most of their money is from the sale of pharmaceuticals. And they don't make much of anything at all. It's unfortunate. It is not a field you go into planning to make money as it is...you go simply for the love of it and plan on being poor and in debt forever. I have discussed this a little with my veterinarian professor and he thinks the field will eventually move away from that and that vets should be charging more for services. But its hard, people do not want to pay for it.
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I definitely agree it's a labor of love to go that route (DVM). Isn't there pet insurance now? Seems like that's another income stream that enables more owners to afford some surgeries, bringing in more business.
It's just sad because I was charged 120 dollars for basically the equivalent of a Z-pak and some cough pills. It is just unfortunate because people will be less likely to take their pets to the vet knowing that the price is going to be so high. This leads to an owner not taking their pet to a doctor, and more likely to suffer because a Vet feels obligated to inflate prices to make a profit. There just seems to be a better way to make money rather than inflating the prices of medications to consumers who don't know better. Very unethical.
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Yes there is and I actually carry insurance on my dog at least while I am in school. I think the field is changing...already has a ton. It's just hard...no I do not want to pay more for my scripts at the vet yet at the same time I know how tough it is for a veterinarian. My sister just graduated vet school last year and I can tell you the best offers she was getting were around 45-50k and she's more in debt than I will be with pharmacy school. My boyfriend with his Bachelor's Degree is making more than that.
My veterinarian professor flat out told us he could not afford to go to vet school in this generation....wouldn't do it. I've even had vets growing up that told my sister they would not do it again because it is hard shouldering that debt on a veterinarian's salary. They loved the job, but...
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Yeah I partially agree. But sometimes there is more to it. If a medication has been re-branded as a veterinary product the veterinarian holds not liability if he uses the branded product (more $$$) and something is amiss...that's the pharmaceutical company. If he prescribes for the human branded generic when there is a veterinarian brand available he can now be liable for it.
Both my scripts were available at a regular pharmacy. One medication they charged me about 35 dollars for and I could have gotten it free at the supermarket pharmacy.
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Do you think none of us can read or navigate over to the Vet forum to compare your stories? Were you charged 120 or 80 bucks? The amount keeps increasing every time you tell the story.
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It's not about whether or not you could get it somewhere else. If the drug has a veterinary approved formulation (i.e. Soloxine is the brand name for Levothryoxine in vet meds) than there is an incentive for the veterinarian to want you to take the veterinary branded product due to liability.
Total charge including office visit 120. Meds were 80.
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Honestly, I would much rather have the option for a prescription by some vets than have only vets who prescribe medications that can't be filled anywhere else, ie human pharmacies.
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You just need a better relationship with your vet. Mine consults with me redarding my pets meds and I find that her prices are as good or better than I can get from the pharmacy. I've gotten Vantin and tobrex recently from her dirt cheap. If its more she'll give me an rx to take to work
If I don't get my dogs' heartgard from my vet's office, they charge $5.00 to get the prescription in order to get it filled at a pet pharmacy. Just doesn't seem right to charge for a prescription. I now make my own generic ivermectin solution -- the other vet in the practice (not the owner), who knows I'm a college student with multiple dogs, told me how much to dilute it, and how much to give, etc., a few years back. Costs me about $25. for two years worth of heartworm prevention for two dogs. Can't beat that! 🙂
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Well if the attitude he displayed IRL is anything like the one he displayed in the Vet forum... no shock that his relationship with the DVM is not so good.
owlegrad
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Pets are expensive. If you couldn't handle the responsibility, you probably should not have gotten one.
When I say the same thing about kids, I get flamed, so we'll see how this goes....
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Flame flame flame...oh wait, I totally agree.
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Yeah, he's probably not getting charged a lot for drugs, the vet is probable include a jackwagon fee for having to deal with him
Gotta agree... I work at a vet's office and we really don't make a lot of money on pet care. The cost to treat an animal for illnesses is ridiculously lower than the same diseases in humans. Which is why most of our patients (about 95% probably) don't get what I call the "scam pet insurance" ... not that it's really a scam, but the maximum payout is so laughably low; because at most a huge treatment will cost you what; a thousand dollars? For a month of chemotherapy? It's a joke. A lot of customers do get a pet insurance discount program, like Pet Assure. Personally I get all my "work" done for free by the doc; one of the many benefits of working for a vet!
So your Vet doesn't charge you 35 dollars for medication that you can get FREE at the local supermarket pharmacy?? Hmmmmm..Interesting.
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Get off it. I work at an independent. We don't have a $4 list. We also don't refuse to fill scripts for $4 list meds when people bring them in. It's not our responsibility to keep track of what's on the $4 list at other places and turn customers away. It's not your vet's job to keep track of that stuff either. Put on your big boy underpants and take responsibility for your pet and your budget. Who just pays a bill without looking at it? Grow up.
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Bust out your admin powers and get rid of this joke of a person. Once he gets off his wammbulance he can beg to have his account reinstated
owlegrad
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Should I tell every person who picks up metformin that they can get it free it at Publix? Am I a bad person for not doing that?
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Yes.
Oh wait... we prob dispensed a thousand (or more) tabs of metformin last week alone... and people paid for EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.
At least you and I will be in hell together, owle. 🙂
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Yes but I don't see what that has to do with this discussion. 😕
OHHH you meant for overcharging for metformin. 😳
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Better yet, tell them to switch to mail order so they can get three months worth of meds for the price of half of a month!!!!!!!!!
Haha
Some of you don't get it. Once a person has a prescription in hand they have the power to walk into or call any pharmacy of their choice and based on the price they have the option to fill the medication.
The customer at the Vet hospital does not feel they have another option. They feel that getting the medicine from the Vet for 1,000 percent above cost is their ONLY OPTION.
Get It??
Obviously many of you do NOT feel that Vets overcharging 500+% on medications and not making the patients aware of their right to explore other options is wrong. I disagree. I do feel this is unethical. We disagree. It's ok to disagree.
The customer at the Vet hospital does not feel they have another option. They feel that getting the medicine from the Vet for 1,000 percent above cost is their ONLY OPTION.
Get It??
Obviously many of you do NOT feel that Vets overcharging 500+% on medications and not making the patients aware of their right to explore other options is wrong. I disagree. I do feel this is unethical. We disagree. It's ok to disagree.
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One thing diplomat fails to point out is that he/she did not even look at the bill until they got to the car, noticed the cost, and then when they did notice it did not go back inside and try to dispute it or return the meds for a script. I understand being frustrated about the costs, but you didn't even make an effort to go settle it up with the vet like an adult. Just let it go (like you said you had in you vet thread, but you apparently haven't since you posted here), learn from this experience, and take your business elsewhere if you see fit.
I too have paid outrageous prices for vet services for animals that I do not think were indicative of the services provided, but that's the nature of the industry (have a vet come to the barn for an emergency call on a Sunday? Not cheap) and chose to LEARN from those experiences. Now I pay more attention to when I call a vet out to the barn and what for. I will also say that I've had great vets that have given me discounts for various reasons and make it a point to educate me as much as possible. I've called and asked for advice (which was free) and they never once tried to swindle me of my money by making unnecessary barn calls or telling me to bring horses in when they didn't need to go in.
The bottom line is that having pets is a luxury and if you cannot pay the price then don't have them. If you're that concerned about money, then learn from this mistake and be more proactive about being an educated consumer and stand up for yourself IRL.
I too have paid outrageous prices for vet services for animals that I do not think were indicative of the services provided, but that's the nature of the industry (have a vet come to the barn for an emergency call on a Sunday? Not cheap) and chose to LEARN from those experiences. Now I pay more attention to when I call a vet out to the barn and what for. I will also say that I've had great vets that have given me discounts for various reasons and make it a point to educate me as much as possible. I've called and asked for advice (which was free) and they never once tried to swindle me of my money by making unnecessary barn calls or telling me to bring horses in when they didn't need to go in.
The bottom line is that having pets is a luxury and if you cannot pay the price then don't have them. If you're that concerned about money, then learn from this mistake and be more proactive about being an educated consumer and stand up for yourself IRL.
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I got it, your mom drank too much when you were in utereo. It seriously messed up your ability to reason and understand logic
You're the only one that failed to exam your bill and failed to understand your ability to get a script and take it your own pharmacy. You also fail to understand the responsibility of pet ownership and what professional conduct is. If you ever make it past pre-pharmacy you'll have a rude awakening on how to deal with others
You don't have that ability.
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Boy this thread went to the do... nevermind.
Just keep it civil, please.
Just keep it civil, please.
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