Imbruvuca cost one last time.

[DelrayDave]

I have rechecked all the figures, have again called Diplomat Pharmacy. My last post was exactly correct. Abbvie has increased the price of 28 420 mg. tablets twice already this year, first in January from $13,040.53 to $14,036.51 and then again this month (April) to $14, 733.36. The annual cost totals $191,533.68.

[AmericanRonin]

Where's the "Dislike" button?

[Psmithuk]

It seems an absolute mountain of cost. I wish there was a breakthrough to sort the system out for everyone, both rich and poor.

[dandodex]

I don't get it, the NHS in the UK negotiated way less than £55,000 for a year's worth. Why are they charging so much more in the US?

"A year’s treatment costs more than £55,000 per patient, but the NHS will pay a reduced price."

nice.org.uk/news/article/ni...

[Hidden in reply to dandodex]

this article is from 2016

[DelrayDave in reply to dandodex]

When Medicare added prescription drug coverage Congress included a law making it illegal for Medicare to negotiate prices. It must pay whatever the companies charge for any drug approved by the FDA. Many experts worry about this potentially bankrupting the system but so far Congress has not acted.

[dandodex in reply to DelrayDave]

Thanks for the explanation. Makes sense. NHS is a huge buyer and has a lot of power to negotiate. What is the rationale for not letting Medicare do the same? It seems very one sided otherwise.

[DelrayDave in reply to dandodex]

In order to get the pharmaceutical companies to go along with coverage for drugs (and to continue their large contrubutions to politicians' campaigns) Congress and President Bush agreed to do this.

[newyork8]

At this point do the price increases really matter...its so outeageous anyway what's another few bucks!

[Awksom]

They charge what the market will bear.

[DelrayDave in reply to Awksom]

Yes, and, perhaps unfortunately, in the US Medicare has become the market. There is thus little reason to keep prices reasonable. Medicare is prohibited from negotiating. There is little or no competition.