DasOgre
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Every month, I go through my closet of samples we use for patients who struggle to afford their medications, and dispose of the expired ones. This is Rexulti, which we have to fight for prior authorization a lot on. it blows my mind that they charge patients so much, but give it to us as needed and have no issues when they expire. Change needs to happen.
PineappleMigraine
Not being able to afford an antipsychotic can end very poorly. This is so sad. :(
HolyHellJezebel
My insurance has me on a program where they send 3 months worth of inhalers at a time. The way its written is 6. I use only 1-2 inhalers a
HolyHellJezebel
year. I bring them with me to visits so they get used by someone before they're out of code. I hope they help, I really do.
WardStradlater
I would imagine it’s even harder since it’s a psych med. I’m sure insurance companies want every other antipsychotic tried first :/
DasOgre
Must trial four others, even if the Genesight shows those medications have gene interactions with the patient
WardStradlater
That sucks that it still can’t get approved for some though :/
newsguycraigevans
Stop voting Republican so we can fix this
ThrowtheHammer13
Yeah, because Joe Manchin’s daughter has done such a great job of dropping the price of EpiPens.
Spudnutted
Big pharma is definitely a problem but let's not forget about insurance companies. I worked for a health insurance company for a time....
BigPharma
everyone is so mean to me on this site...
Spudnutted
Well you know what they say...
Spudnutted
I absolutely hated my job and couod not believe the reasoning behind a large portion of denials I had seen and premiums were insane.
Warhunterkiller
I currently have about 1200 dollars worth of insulin in my fridge.
DasOgre
So, enough insulin to get you a couple weeks?
Warhunterkiller
Pretty much. But when I lost my insurance a few times over the years 1 vial would have to last a long ass time.
whitefoxkei
Sad thing is you probably have about $30 worth of insulin in your fridge. They just charged you 1200.
Warhunterkiller
Crazy thing is I take novolog which is the most expensive insulin at $350 or so.
IAmNotNSAsodonotbeparanoid
The politicians will change that, right????
Pepperpete123
Only in your *land of the free* country.
Shouneko
Exactly, free to charge whatever they want! Oh, but no, only they are allowed to make it, you or generic corp A making it is illegal.
tinkrtailr
Two of my doctors load me up with free samples when I see them, since they know how many meds I'm already paying for.
theguywiththevoice
The problem with medication is that you can't just say "fuck you corrupt price gouging bastards. I'll get it somewhere else"
Toodamagedtocare
??so sad
tooomanystevesgotbanned
Dear America, wtf?
kingnothingthefirst
But what about the investors bob? Who's looking out for them? And the CEO needs another mansion in Switzerland, what about them?
RyanRichter
It costs about $0.5-2billion to have a drug fully approved, and that's only the lucky 1 in 10,000 average compounds tested that make it all
RyanRichter
the way through the process. With current regulations, the research cost is extreme.
FGnewsbox
Will no one think of the billionaires?
RandywithanI
I’m sure it has 99% efficacy. Sad you have to throw it away.
edalton454
He could have given it out but ....Noooo
DasOgre
I’m sure as well
RyanRichter
Well, you can read the stability study information and see; some drugs can end up way off of their label claim.
Biggless9
That would be about $120,000 of pills I take for cancer -- Ninlaro, $3500/ pill (Takeda, Inc.) and Revlimid, $1000/ pill (Celgene, Inc.).
Rumpocalypse
Celgene are the fucking worst. They gouge the sgit out of their prices.
Timtimgrimslimjim
Good on you for speaking up.
CatHateDogDogLoveCat
So we take a treatment for a disease that makes it super hard to hold down a job, and charge 4k for a month of it. There are no words.
CatHateDogDogLoveCat
And I'm struggling with how to say this without sounding ableist, and I think I'm failing at that.
Cilvaa
Just had a look, in Australia Rexulti is around $40-60 for 30 tablets at full price, locked at $5.60 for 30 tablets with a concession card.
DasOgre
It would almost be cheaper to fly to Australia once a month to get it.
jwillustrat
A 30 day supply of my meds costs $7,900.
DasOgre
It’s awful. I’m sorry.
Pynktacos
In Australia that would cost you $5.60 per prescription. It’s disgusting how much you guys have to pay just to live
HeywouldJablowme
Our Healthcare System is pure fucking evil
Rockclimber147
Holy shit, I was on that stuff and even with pharma insurance it was like 200 a month. My other 3 meds were 7 a month combined. (Canadian)
Rockclimber147
I have since switched to desvenlafaxine which is much more affordable. Still, Universal Pharmacare can and should be a human right.
rikescakes
I come from the billing side of long term care pharmacy and I hate it.
namAehT
Why are the pills in a bedpan?
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DasOgre
It’s an emesis basin from the clinic. I use it to triple count before disposal
DasOgre
It’s an emesis basin. I put them in there to triple count before disposal.
Feldspartacus
My moms cancer meds are $1,000/pill. Needs 1-2 daily. If she stops taking them she dies.
FlyingDorito
Does her insurance cover it?!!? God damn.
Feldspartacus
Insurance covered it through her work, but now she's going on disability and has to pay for her own insurance. Hopefully medicare will
FlyingDorito
Damn. Best wishes to your mom. I wish I could say come to Canada, but medicines cost fortune here without insurance as well.
FlyingDorito
What’s the name of the medicine if you don’t mind me asking.
Feldspartacus
Tagrisso. She turns 65 in a few months and can hopefully get medicare part D which should cover it. Hopefully cost less than cobra or w/e
FlyingDorito
If Medicare doesn’t cover, purchase in Canadian websites maybe? It should be cheaper.
DasOgre
It’s awful. Mental health is important to recovering from other illnesses, like cancer. How can someone stay sane with that held over them?
Feldspartacus
She definitely has regular therapy appointments. I'm about at the point of finding a therapist myself
DasOgre
You should. Illnesses don’t just affect the person with the disease, it affects everyone around them. Doesn’t hurt to talk to one.
marpizza
Last month my allergy and birth control combined cost me almost $500. Lost my health insurance last year when I lost my job. It sucks :(
SamuthNBS
In the UK I pay about £9 per prescription. It doesn't matter what the prescription is for, or how often I need it. Some people pay nothing
Onsvaltti
Yeah same. My first testosterone of a year is 50€, then about 5€ per bottle. (I need it 4 times a year)
SamuthNBS
And you don't have to take out any loans or remortgage the house or pay half your salary in to health insurance?
Onsvaltti
I mean sure houses cost a lot, too. But ypu have to have money so the bank accepts your loan. ? And you can't get life insurance if you->
Onsvaltti
are sick somehow, like depression, for example. Or that's what stopped me to get mine ? he was like "you have depression?? Ok nevermind"
SamuthNBS
Weird, here when you disclose a mental or physical condition they give you extra support which makes sense
Onsvaltti
I don't know about the salary part, I'm actually on early retirement at 28 because I'm mentally too sick to work. ?
Onsvaltti
(government gives me ~600€ a month for bills and food, 222€ for rent, and 285€ for housing benefits. My fiance pays the rest 222€ rent)
SamuthNBS
Man I am sorry to hear that. My partner is the same at 24. I hope things go well for you! \m/
Onsvaltti
I'm allright, I can live with it ✌️ but kinda makes me feel like a loser for not being able to go to school, etc. But ehh. ??♂️
FoamboardDinosaur
All meds now have a general expiry date of 1-2y rather then the actual date, which can be years more. Profit not fact driven
BigPharma
this isnt 100% accurate. when stored in the original manufactured packaging and seals some last 5-10 years. however, once opened they /1
BigPharma
have to be stored in specific conditions or they can deteriorate (no UV light, proper temp, no moisture etc). Once something leaves the /2
BigPharma
pharmacy there is no way to guarantee it is stored in proper conditions, so an expiration date of 1 year (or less on some perishables) /3
BigPharma
is posted on the bottle. IF it is stored properly, it can be good longer. but they cannot know once it leaves the pharmacy. /end
FoamboardDinosaur
Agreed. I dislike that they changed it. It seems more a bs marketing ploy to get me to throw out all my carefully stored meds every year 1/
RyanRichter
This is simply not true.
FoamboardDinosaur
Then why have all meds gone from wildly different expiry dates to 1-2 years for every 1 of them? Did my aspirin and melatonin suddenly 1/
FoamboardDinosaur
Become unstable in the last decade? Why did it change?
RyanRichter
Stability study designs (regulated by the FDA) require testing at specific intervals, like 3/6/9/12/18/24 months. Sometimes it ends up being
RyanRichter
cheaper for everyone involved to skip the later testing and append a shorter expiration, but the situation depends on the drug.
SavageGoH
Big Pharma is one the royal families and the peasants can't do anything about it.
CramSandwichandaNukaCola
unnecessaryweevil
*won't
BigPharma
I'm actually a pretty nice guy. i like video games and puzzles and watching Netlfix. no one bothers to get to know me personally though...
NKato
Well, start firebombing their headquarters.
Kakakarrakeek
Some dude flew a plane into the IRS building recently didn't he?
Kakakarrakeek
But that's taxes, and we need those, so...
Merky600
As a parent who needs kid’s Epipens, that price raise was a total “let them eat cake, hahaha!”
TRDirty
We could lynch or behead a few execs. Might do the trick
joeysauce
Time to take some lessons from the French Revolution.
darkninja2992
I want to agree, but at the same time, we just had an incident with an angry mob calling for blood not long ago
CaviarBurrito
I mean, can’t we vote in elected officials that will fight to resolve? Aka feel the “bern” sanders? I’m not giving up just yet on democracy
Exsul
It's the intention. If people stormed congress to make them stop the locking of children in cages, the opinion would be different.
SuicidalThrillbillyturnedLunaticChillbilly
I hate this planet. Please destroy it, aliens!
GenStrike
You can direct that rage in more productive directions.
homechef88
Amen. The planet is beautiful and so many beautiful people on it too.
comehomefransbrauder
Question: my uncle died and left a slew of meds behind. Seems a shame to trash them as someone could use them still. Ideas?
marsgoose
Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200.
Guidocat
A close friend or family member that needs it...even then be anonymous...had a family member give insulin from a deceased relative to anothe
arewenotkingsandqueenstogether
I always thought there should be a black market for these situations
IAmTheToastyOhs
Is the Silk Road still a thing?
undextral
Needs to be returned to pharmacy (they'll most likely destroy them). When my partner died, I had cupboard full of various painkillers 1/
undextral
incl. lot of opiate derivatives. Probably could've sold if I'd been that inclined
meggie4usall
Unfortunately they have to B disposed of legally. Most pharm have clean disposal units. It’s tragic but there wld be no way to make it safe
YouWereSupposedToBeBulletPoints
I had a ton of anti-seizure meds for my pup when she passed. I had just picked up a new prescription, unopened, and still couldn't donate it
trelf
Sorry about your pupper. :/
YouWereSupposedToBeBulletPoints
❤️ Thanks. Found out later that her seizures were more than likely brought on by vet rec prescription of Trifexis (flea&heartworm meds) ?
YouWereSupposedToBeBulletPoints
I understand the legalities&safety worries. it felt like such a waste. I know I wish someone could have donated theirs to me before i paid $
WhichIsIt
Probably felt wasteful based on the price which is largely artificial
Vorphalack
You won’t be able to donate them through official channels. If you get rid of them, don’t just put them in the trash. There are drop-offs.
cravingprogress
Oh but you know people do this. #lazy
marthisthing
Don’t flush them either, they poison the water.
comehomefransbrauder
Oh that makes me so mad. I mean, I get it but these are good meds. Oh well
YouWereSupposedToBeBulletPoints
and make sure your name is scraped off the label, just in case
actuallynotirate
Why?
YouWereSupposedToBeBulletPoints
If the person I gifted meds to had an bad reaction to them, I wouldn't want them traced back to me. You could be in a lot of legal trouble
RocketrySurgeon
I mean, what are they gonna sue the dead uncle?
actuallynotirate
No. I meant why do we scrape the name before throwing away in trash? (I do it as well, just don’t know if there ‘risk’ really warrants this)
SirDistic
I've been hearing that some drugs don't actually expire. I realize some like antibiotics do. But is it true that some are just fine later?
hiyo365
Once it his that date on the bottle that days discard, it's usually at about half life or so depending on the med.
hiyo365
It's not going to hurt you (again typically based on the the med), it'll just be slightly less effective. I was a pharm tech for a bit.
ChocolateDolphin
Better to think of it as an expiration of liability of the manufacturer and provider. Nothing stops you from taking it past expire, right?
mariemcd
correct, but not way too long after expiry
Nerubin
Salt survived millions of years unchanged, but once it is in a plastic container it has an expiration date of 6 months. Sometimes it's just
Nerubin
rules being rules. Reality is not always aligned with general regulations and vice versa.
fdragon
It honestly depends on the drug and the shelf life study done on it. If they test a whole bunch of times and determine when how long
fdragon
Ot could last til to remain in spec. Then all the lots get the same blanket expiration date. Photosensitive items definitely need to follow
fdragon
The expiration date.Most pills probably last well beyond what's printed but obv had batches expire within the time frame in study.
fdragon
Liquids I would not trust past the expiration dates they're more photosensitive. Same thing with meds requiring cold storage. Warming and
fdragon
Cooling will accelerate the expiration process
andreHitCat
I test these things for a living, the answer is that some are remarkably stable. 5 years of stability testing is standard. Some last more.
Vorphalack
Expiration dates are often unimportant: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/drug-expiration-dates-do-they-mean-anything
Kirbykidx
I can tell you personally after flipping off my girlfriend and sleeping for two days, Flexeril doesn't expire after seven years.
MagpieNI
Paywall
Vorphalack
Thanks for pointing that out. Here’s another source: https://www.propublica.org/article/the-myth-of-drug-expiration-dates
banana4skale
Only medication (that isn’t a lie quiz) that is dangerous if expired is tetracycline antibiotics. cause fanconi syndrome if taken expired
banana4skale
Liquid**** a liquid medication. Liquids often (not always) have much shorter expirations because water interacting with the molecule
bochikiniki
It's complicated... Some drugs last a lot longer than stated other drug become toxic. As for antibiotics, talk to pharmD or MD to confirm
welluhwhatdoyouwantmetosay
DOD did a study, because unlike regular hospitals, they can't return medication. Most were 80% effective 3yrs expired. One was toxic.
Unscrupulous1
Why don't u tell us which one, who are you giggsaw? "Let's play a game- some of these pills will help you live...1 will kill you, u decide"
POGassultraboot
Not trying to be that ass, but you got that study? It sounds interesting as fuck.
welluhwhatdoyouwantmetosay
It has been a couple of decades, but here is something more recent: https://ghdonline.org/uploads/drugs-Stability_Profiles-vencimiento.pdf
POGassultraboot
Sweet, thanks man! Sorry to be an ass like that. I’ll get reading.
docTurd
Tetracyclines the toxic one?
POGassultraboot
Was this it? https://ghdonline.org/uploads/drugs-Stability_Profiles-vencimiento.pdf
Ulthirm
Sometimes its the filler material that expires before the medication or the tablet/capsule.
Venusflytripp
Ive taken long expired pain meds out of desperation before, the color dye had morphed and faded but they still worked as expected.
eCheeseRunner
Pharma runs stability tests and it has to be for a finite period of time. That’s what ends up in the approval. Not inherently nefarious.
FlyingDorito
I like the word nefarious. I'm gonna use it.
DoctorSniffles
Sounds kinda nefarious
POGassultraboot
Kinda like that dude that did a shelf life experiment for 10 years and Spam outlasted the experiment?
ConradPerson
Can’t expect them to do stability tests forever
SamuthNBS
I would imagine it's quite rare for chemicals to denature in an inert pill as long as they're stored well. They aren't magic
feraacedia
You can’t imagine or extrapolate data for the FDA. You need to provide with certainty you know how /when the compound will degrade.
SamuthNBS
I didn't realise I was speaking to the FDA, wouldn't they need a warrant? :p
feraacedia
Haha in this case, no
Ferrous
expiration dates are usually extremely conservative and many things are good for years. But if there's any risk of being sued over expired
Ferrous
samples being handed out, it's just not worth it.
Highlights333
That’s consequences of the suing, not really a fault of the pharmaceutical company
StewedTomaters
You'd think that there'd be some way to get rid of that liability through waivers/contracts. As long as they set a standard for how long
StewedTomaters
each expired drug was kept around, it seems like they could be redistributed for immediate use by someone who can't afford it. Idk.
123idrinkpeee
I think the expiration date mostly affects the effectiveness of the drug. I don’t think anything would become toxic or dangerous
bochikiniki
Doxycycline become pretty toxic
Toastfrog
Is that the sleeping drug
BillandTedsUnremarkableTripToCostCo
Antibiotic. You might be thinking of doxylamine, which is an antihistamine used for sleep sometimes.
bochikiniki
Sorry, I didn't understand your question there... The other person is right
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