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Date Posted: 10:11:02 06/30/09 Tue
Author: Shirley
Subject: You're absolutely right, Paul
In reply to: Paul Davis 's message, "I guess it depends on how you look at it" on 06:14:20 06/30/09 Tue

How nuts is it that Medicare can't negotiate drug prices? Ditto AARP where a ton of their members were buying drugs? The Prescription Drug Plan was written by the pharms and they lined the pockets of politicans to get it passed in the middle of the night where there was much arm-twisting of the laggards.

I've cited this example several times. Zocor, a drug prescribed for many senior to lower cholesterol is manufactured in Costa Rica by a US company. From there, it's shipped to Germany for packaging with half going to Canada and the other half to the US where it's sold at a much higher price. And contaminants have been found in the manufacturing plant.

Major drug companies PAY generic manufacturers to keep generics off the market so they can continue their gouging. They've received million dollar fines for their scurilous deeds. I've found an older generic that's more effective and with virtually no side effects to replace my Zocor script. With WalMaart's gimmicky low cost on senior generics, each of my three generic drugs cost $12 per month. That's a HUGE difference.

Do you realize that doctors are compensated by drug companies to prescribe high priced "miracle drugs"? It goes like this. Doctors keep a duplicate of the prescriptions withy write. Those are then given to the particular drug company. The drug companies then finance trips to "conferences" held in exotic locations and doctors can take along family members. Having had three RNs in the family gives a whole lot of insight into the dirty little practices.

In Feb. I had cataract surgery on both eyes. The surgeon prescribed three different eye drops to use four times per day for a week preceding surgery. Cost? $450 per eye. I told him to snacel the surgery, that I couldn't (afford it. (actually could but I balk at that) Sure enough, he came up with samples of alternate drops at no cost to me. It was more important to him to collect the $3,500 Medicare paid for each eye. Each surgery took 10 minutes and he does it assembly line fashion. I was one of 20 he did that day, not all of them Medicare patients. The traditional fee charged insurance companies is $6,000 per eye.

My other complaint is FDA. Those who test drugs are allowed by law to own stocks in the very companies whose drugs they're testing. How sane is that? Isn't it in their best interest to approve those drugs? Why do have to wait until a hundred or more have died from taking a drug before it's pulled from the market?

There's also a huge problem with the insurance companies involved in the Medicare Advantage plan, namely Blus Cross/Blue Shield and Anthem. They collect far more from Medicare than if a patient had stuck with the traditional Medicare plan. These are the real scammers. I know of three major corporations in Chicago and one local hospital who put Blue Cross on notice they would no longer deal with them unless they changed their late pay practices. Blue Cross got the message.

Another FUBAR!

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