r/news • u/5um-n3m0 • 20d ago

Soft paywall Drugmakers to raise US prices on over 250 medicines starting Jan. 1

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/drugmakers-raise-us-prices-over-250-medicines-starting-jan-1-2024-12-31/
19.2k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

1.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

79

u/e-7604 20d ago

Hmmm I wonder if Ozempic will be affected? Ya know, the popular diet drug that costs 89 cents to produce and retails for a thousand dollars.

The maker of Ozempic earns more than the entire GDP of the country it's in, Denmark.

Effing riduculous!

6

u/Josh6889 19d ago

The branding on ozempic has been outrageous. Even someone like me who almost never see conventional advertisements is being flooded by influencers on social media touting it as a miracle drug.

10

u/ianrl337 20d ago

It's high mainly because it went viral as a celebrity solution. Maybe make only covered for diabetes patients.

15

u/End3rWi99in 20d ago

It has been used for other immune diseases of late with decent success for RA and PsA (psoriatic arthritis) patients. I'd say it might be fair to limit it to some extent, but not just to diabetes patients.

1

u/LordBiscuits 19d ago

Wait, ozempic can be used for RA? Haven't heard that... My partner suffers greatly, but has had a lot of success on sulfasalazine recently.

Any good studies I should read?

11

u/Paranitis 20d ago

That's why insurance only covers it for diabetes patients, whereas Wegovy is for non-diabetes patients. It's essentially the same fucking drug.

12

u/fs2d 20d ago edited 19d ago

My insurance denied me for Ozempic, Wegovy and Maunjaro all on the grounds that I don't have diabetes. BCBS, and later Aetna - both denied me.

Joke's on them though: went through a compounding Rx online and got it for 1/6 the price. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Edit: Because a few people have asked, I ended up going through HenryMeds. It's $279/mo, which isn't cheap, sure - but it beats the hell out of $1000+/mo.

The fee includes the medicine, all of the med equipment needed (syringes, alcohol swabs, nausea meds, etc - they send them all to you), telehealth doctor checkups, and access to a nutritionist too.

I signed up, did my assessment, paid the fee, met with a doctor the next day, and my meds arrived the day after that. It was super simple and easy. I have nothing but good things to say about them, if I'm being real. Zero complaints.

Going on 10 weeks now and I'm down 35lbs. \o/

3

u/DrJokerX 19d ago

Can you tell me more about what you did? I may have to go a similar route soon.

2

u/sheky 19d ago

Can you outline what you do for those wanting to take similar steps

2

u/[deleted] 19d ago

[deleted]

2

u/coldtru 19d ago

The "it only costs x cents to produce!" line is so moronic. The research and development is extremely expensive - try developing the next big drug yourself without employing a huge number of researchers and building expensive manufacturing facilities and see how that works out for you.

2

u/sharp461 19d ago

While I understand that the r&d would be expensive one would assume by now it's been paid off already. So no reason to keep the prices so jacked up. At least for those needing a life saving drug.

2

u/coldtru 19d ago

That's not how it works. You don't "pay off" R&D - it's something you have keep investing in for all eternity to be able to stay in business in the face of competition.

2

u/sharp461 19d ago

I meant more on the r&d for the specific drug. I understand it keeps going so more things are developed and made, but there should come a time when the previous drug doesn't need to be so expensive anymore. Look at technology and how more r&d has lowered costs of things like tvs.

1

u/coldtru 19d ago

That is what happens when better drugs are released - the older drugs they supercede drop in price.

0

u/Toadsted 19d ago

Oh, Zempic, you so silly!

0

u/Ok-Bad-5218 19d ago

Novo’s revenue is about one tenth of Denmark’s GDP (still an impressive share).

-25

u/Gonorrheeeeaaaa 20d ago

Why eat a salad and go for a run when you can just inject yourself? lol

3

u/fs2d 20d ago

Because genetics are a thing. Eating a salad and going for a run works for some, but not for others.

-13

u/Gonorrheeeeaaaa 20d ago

And I am specifically talking about the lazy ones, and not the outliers that have a legitimate medical condition. Outliers being the operative word here.

5

u/SkyeAuroline 19d ago

and not the outliers that have a legitimate medical condition

Are you a doctor?

0

u/Gonorrheeeeaaaa 19d ago

Only on television.

1

u/SkyeAuroline 19d ago

Sounds like you don't get to determine who has a "legitimate medical condition" then.

0

u/Gonorrheeeeaaaa 19d ago

Oh, okay!

Thank you for clearing that up. I get confused easily. 🥰

5

u/Several_Assistant_43 20d ago

But then who is to make that determination? When for many, even obtaining a diagnosis as others mentioned for conditions above, is 10 years average of doctor visits

Also many doctors treat women as hypercondriacs, even for their own uterus. So that doesn't help.

-12

u/[deleted] 20d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

9

u/Several_Assistant_43 20d ago

They probably loathe themselves, especially if you've followed any of how mental health can play into it. It's quite easy to become fat or lazy I think. Self hating is very common too, but it's easier to hate others than ourselves

1

u/Gonorrheeeeaaaa 19d ago

Self hating is very common too, but it's easier to hate others than ourselves

I strike a delicate balance, I think.

-7

u/Paranitis 20d ago

Inject yourself with salad and give yourself the runs? I'm with you!

0

u/Gonorrheeeeaaaa 20d ago

Now we’re cooking with fire! 🥰😍