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thewayneThe drug, Aloquin, was used to treat eczema and consisted of an old generic antibiotic and extracts from aloe vera. The price went from about $250 a tube to almost $10,000 a tube. Apparently patients balked at the price and rejected the prescriptions.
Insurance plans wouldn't pay $10k for such an old medication of dubious efficacy, the company had trouble being profitable. The article states that "The filing also said that manufacturing issues, a dispute with a wholesaler, and competition from generic creams contributed to the bankruptcy."
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/02/infamous-pharma-company-declares-bankruptcy-after-3900-price-hike/
For myself, in November I went and saw my lung doctor about a persistent cough that had been bugging me for some months. He changed one of my meds, an inhaler for asthma control (I also carry a rescue inhaler) to two nebulized meds. I had been getting the inhaler for free via mail order. The two nebulized meds were $6 each at my local pharmacy. Starting in January, one of the meds were removed from my pharmacy benefits company's formulary and replaced with a drug that became $140 at my local pharmacy - and would increase in price after 3 months!
So I was forced to get it mail order, the two drugs became $130 for a three month supply.
I don't like getting my meds mail order as by getting them locally, that money supports local jobs, not jobs in another state. We have a bad enough economy here, and it may not be much, but it's something.
Insurance plans wouldn't pay $10k for such an old medication of dubious efficacy, the company had trouble being profitable. The article states that "The filing also said that manufacturing issues, a dispute with a wholesaler, and competition from generic creams contributed to the bankruptcy."
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/02/infamous-pharma-company-declares-bankruptcy-after-3900-price-hike/
For myself, in November I went and saw my lung doctor about a persistent cough that had been bugging me for some months. He changed one of my meds, an inhaler for asthma control (I also carry a rescue inhaler) to two nebulized meds. I had been getting the inhaler for free via mail order. The two nebulized meds were $6 each at my local pharmacy. Starting in January, one of the meds were removed from my pharmacy benefits company's formulary and replaced with a drug that became $140 at my local pharmacy - and would increase in price after 3 months!
So I was forced to get it mail order, the two drugs became $130 for a three month supply.
I don't like getting my meds mail order as by getting them locally, that money supports local jobs, not jobs in another state. We have a bad enough economy here, and it may not be much, but it's something.
no subject
Date: 2019-02-10 08:40 am (UTC)I think in this particular case that they chose a loser - a drug that was not highly regarded, in fact one that was dubious regarding its efficacy. So when they jacked the price, insurance plans said 'go right ahead' and stopped paying for it. This took them by surprise and they were out money for the purchase and had no one paying for it. Now, this coupled with other pharma companies suppressing competition by holding on to generics and keeping them off the market? THAT should be an automatic express ticket to the deepest circles of hell with some new ones added in.