The whole problem is started by our Washington fat cats. When we were able to by drugs in Canada, it was a WHOLE lot cheaper and still is. The same drug sold in American costing $1.00 a pill would cost just $0.12 in Canada. Even with shipping it was a whole lost cheaper. American companies sell drugs to other countries a LOT cheaper than they sell to American pharmacist. Instead of having a doctor call my order in to a pharmacist, i always asked him for the prescription so i could choose, I would then send it to a Canadian company and save a fortune. I know buying drugs from companies outside the US can be risky. But i have no seen a problem with Canada as of yet. The fact is simple. Americans are being shafted by these companies who have the Washington fat cats pitching for them to keep consumers from buying out of country while they all reap the profits. That's the reason people go for generic drugs over the real deal.

I agree. Even shopping between different pharmacies here there is a HUGE difference, down to Walmart vs Sams Club (which floored me). I have seen differences of 100 when I didn't have insurance, and have had different prescriptions filled at different pharmacies to get the most bang for my buck.

I'm sorry; do I sound like I am whining? I do NOT have a choice to compare and buy. My child, needs these medications. I compare and buy because I HAVE to find the lowest prices, otherwise, it would break me at times, and sometimes still does because prices change month-to-month. I'm not an idiot; I understand supply and demand. I was merely stating that when a medication is 10.00 at walmart, and 110 at Walgreens, it floors me.

No. I don't think you're whining.

Its immoral medicine for profit ! I'm so sorry for your predicament.

Because the US has the highest prices and unlike other industrialized countries, we don't provide out citizens with healthcare. People well being shouldn't be a for profit business. You shouldn't be making money on whether people live or die. When you need prescriptions that are several hundred dollars a month each, comparing between CVS, Walmart, Kroger, Walgreens ain't gonna make a difference. Obviously you've never been in that situation

Comparing can make a dent; not a huge one, but at least it's something. There was a time when I had been laid off from work, and my insurance ran out. My son is Autistic, and at that time was on 5 different medications - one 2X a day, another 3X a day, another 2X a day. The costs were outrageous - about 1200/month. I couldn't get assistance due to the waiting period of 4 months for medical assistance. How can they expect people to absorb these costs? They tell you that MA reimburses medical expenses for those 4 months that you are waiting when it goes into effect. What about the out-of-pocket expenses that are incurred during the waiting period?

Many drug manufacturers provide "loyalty card's" on line that you can down load and bring your co-pay way down. I check this on all my prescriptions. The pharmacy files the card number as a second insurance. Has saved me thousands over the years.

I have used those at times, but, it's hit or miss. You are right though - if it's a brand-name drug, I will check for those. Many people don't know about them :) Thank you for reminding!

My pharmacy will price match, they told me to call Costco and get their prices. The difference is almost $200 between stores.

I can tell you as a pharmacist. I used to work for one major chain, and the minimum charge there was $11.99, even if you medication cost them 30 cents. Now I work for private pharmacy. It's a completely different story. We sell at what it cost us to buy them, plus $3-4.

I work filling prescriptions. I have seen drugs cost $1,000+/Mo when it cost them maybe 0.30 cents a pill..One HIV medication I filled costed $1,562/Mo.

It's not buying out of country that's the solution - Canada doesn't have enough drugs to sell to everyone in the USA. The problem is the price the pharmaceutical companies charge Canadian and other customers compared to the avg. 50% higher price they charge in the USA.

1st off i think you should re read my post. You can NO LONGER buy out of country because Washington made it Illegal. The drugs that are sold in Canada are the identical drugs manufactured in the US sold to Canada. They buy the same drugs as we have in the US for a LOT less money. That's why people use to buy from Canadian companies. As of a few years ago, you could buy drugs up to 90 days without a prescription as long as it was signed by an official from the Red Cross. The whole point is, people are being OVER charged in the USA and our men in Washington have stuck us with this problem and done not a thing to help Americans to buy drugs at a reasonable price.

Many medications sold in the US are not actually manufactured in the US. They might be packaged here or have containers labeled but are made elsewhere (from Canada to Mexico to China). Drug companies paid off politicians from both parties to keep their monopoly in the US.

The issue here is that some (not all) generic manufacturers take shortcuts, which may make little difference in most meds but those that need very specific time release there is a problem in the dose/time profile.

Yep blame the politicians. We Pay the highest costs in the world and subsidize the other countries. The American for profit healthcare is an embarrassment

But how much of that is subsidized by the taxpayer?

Are there other costs that are being paid elsewhere in the system to make the point-of-sale seem cheap?

That's an excellant question and I have no idea.

This is disturbing. I'm disheartened by the callousness of the FDA regarding this issue. If everything in this article is true, the FDA should be investigated on some serious charges.

hahahahahahahahahaha
oh man, you're KILLIN' ME !

Or better yet, abolished and dismantle it and replace it with a group based on real scientific facts, not propaganda and lobbyists running the show.

Republicans done believe in science. Or facts. The US runs on $$$

Touchee'. And they suck at ruling.

The world runs on money...........Duh! not just the US.

They would have done it years ago if they cared. But they don't because the bottom line in this business is cash. Sub-par generics have been on the market since before 1962. In 1983, only 35 percent of the top-selling drugs with expired patents had a generic competitor. Then it exploded. Today, the rate is close to 100%.

Was always raised to believe generics are the same, but they are not always.

Know someone on coumadin who can not take the generic warfarin, is NOT the same thing....

That's true with coumadin. Stick with the real deal that DuPont makes.

Government at its best ...Not!

The drugs are exactly the same... it's all in your head.

The drugs are not the same, it's proven in this article.

this article about exactly one case where generic wasn't the same, and another that might have been bad batch? article doesn't prove anything for 99.99% of cases

Good for this couple who fought to help all people unlike the generic drug manufacturer and the FDA! You have to wonder who is protecting the public when the FDA openly lies about the brand and generic drugs being the same. SMH.

Seems as though, these folks are real sociopaths. I'm really starting to believe this. Yet, whose watching the store?

Like most of the federal agencies, unfortunately. EPA? Worthless - does what Congress tells them to do.

and Congress is nothing but a bunch of unsupervised children, doing whatever they please.The lazy American voter will vote them back in no matter what they do then complain all year. I am SICK of hearing about how bad the politicians are when "we" continually vote them back in. VOTE THEM ALL OUT WOW what a wake up call .

The president appoints the head of the EPA!

The FDA is part of our worthless government. They get paid handsomely by the drug companies so they can put their product on the market.

Yeah those horrible cancer fighting drugs and lifesaving antibiotics... How dare they!?

They are not worthless, but they are susceptible to being bought off by these huge drug companies. While dragging their heels on giving approval to other things that would be much better and safer options for the public, but may take revenue from the companies in their pockets.

It's pretty obvious why they are good. They perform the basic functionality of keeping the food and drug supplies safe. Yes, there are exceptions like the one pointed out here, but they are a necessary government administration. But like most administrations in government, they aren't perfect. In the end, they are flawed everyday normal people.

I took Lexapro until the generic came out. I knew within 2-3 days, it was not the same.

I heard the same from a lot of women taking Tamoxifen for breast cancer. Certain generics were better than others in the amount and type of side effects.

The macro issue here is the FDA failed miserably to do it's job with this drug, and the report suggests many more failures have been swept under the rug. It's back to the trust issue, again. Can we trust the FDA?

Ans.: no.

They don't care...their constutents: big pharma are happy, happy, happy and very fat.

Mental health drugs, like Wellbutrin, are especially tricky when it comes to finding the right one. Two drugs in the same class might work completely differently, and the generics might not work at all the same as the brands. Unfortunately, insurance companies largely fail to realize this important fact, which is one reason why mental health care in this country is in such a shambles.

Insurance companies have far too much power and we need to take it away. Pencil pushers don't know jack about medications and tests, but on the other hand, we have seen that greed is a great motivator for doctors. Both sides don't really care about much more than the bottom line, and there are victims lining the streets.

Certain medications where drug blood levels are critical like seizure medications some patients can be sensitive and it's best to stick with the brand name medications.

The true concerta generics also work differently. They don't last as long and I have a feeling they release too much medication in the beginning.
They have the same active ingredients but the method of delivery over 12 hours differs totally.