OT medicine costs killing me

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 11:38:02 +0100, "Marie Lewis"
wrote:


"Paul & Suzie Beckwith" wrote in message
...

I'm reading these posts with growing horror... I will never ever
complain about paying £6.50 for a single prescription ever again...

As much as I would love to spend loads more time in the States, I
cannot imagine living in a country where you have to pay for
absolutely everything down to the last plaster... Here in the UK we
have it far too easy... no wonder fabric is so cheap in the USA 'cos
otherwise no-one could afford to quilt!

I would not say it is "far too easy." It is simply that if you need the
drugs, treatment, etc., you get what you need, irrespective of income.

But then we have the "postcode lottery" syndrome - if you live in one
area of the UK you can have A, B and C on the NHS with no trouble, but
if you live somewhere else you are proverbially "stuffed"...

And I like it. In no way do I resent paying taxes to help people who would
not be able to afford to pay for treatment. That could be me, one day. It
happens.

The NHS has its defects, but would you really want to be without it?

No I wouldn't - but I *DO* wonder whether it will still be around in
its current form when I am old enough to wear purple... to coin a
phrase!

Suzie B
--
"From the internet connection under the pier"
Southend, UK
--
Please remove NOSPAM when emailing me!
http://community.webshots.com/user/suziekga

but that is not the government, but the companies. the government in
this case would be at fault only for not doing price control which, as
mentioned in other messages, is done in other countries. I don't buy the
argument that here we are paying for R&D, that cost could be included
matter where the drug is being sold...

Michelle wrote:
You know, it just seems that they'd have the attitude, take care of your own
first. lol That's the government for you.
Shelly


--
Dr. Quilter
Ambassador of Extraordinary Aliens
http://community.webshots.com/user/mvignali
(take the dog out before replying)

Paul & Suzie Beckwith wrote:

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 10:48:05 +0100, Kate Dicey
wrote:

BTW, the chocolate cookies from Marks are really nice, but I'm afraid
they don't travel well, any distance over say, about 500 yards and 4
flights of stairs and they just, well, vanish...

Good job there's no M&S in Sittinbourne, or I'd have to go and test
those...

--
Kate XXXXXX
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

Oh god Kate you'd hate them... all chocolate chunks and cookie that
melts in the mouth... white choc chunk, or milk or plain, sometimes
caramel... and about 50 million calories each as they are from the
fresh-bake counter and are NOT marked up with calories or SF...)

Get yourself to Bluewater...

There's also Godiva at Bluewater... And Johnny Looloo's fabric dept.
and the pen shop, and the Lego shop, and Starbucks... At least Lego and
fabric are lo-fat, lo-cal options! And you can earn some exercise
points by walking round BOTH levels!

--
Kate XXXXXX
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

Not so much that they are inferior. However it has been my experience
that the compounds used with some generic drugs are different than the
brand names. The amount of the actual drug is the same but if the
catalyst is different it can be a problem. I had an allergic reaction
one time to the brand name drug but using the generic made the biggest
difference. No allergy to the catalyst used in the compound. I will
use a generic when ever possible. I don't hesitate to try both
considering my experience.
juliasb

Michelle wrote:
Many people still think that generic drugs are inferior to "brand names".
They aren't.
Shelly
"teleflora" wrote in message
news:TsL9c.2293$zc1.2030@okepread03...

"Taria" wrote in message
.. .

Don't hesitate to ask your dr. for meds that are less expensive if
there is an option.

Absolutely! You are most likely to get the drug that was pushed by the

last

salesman in the office. And it sure isn't going to be the cheapest.

Always

ask the cost at the time and if there is an alternative. Either an older
drug or generic. I am constantly amazed that people don't do this.

Cindy

You and me both! As I just wrote a similar response Jerry walked
through and I was telling him what I had just wrote back... he chuckled
and recalled one of the worst allergy reactions he saw in me that had to
do with a generic drug/ brand name drug and it was the brand name that
caused the serious problem. So being careful is a primary concern but
there just isn't any way to know in advance .
juliasb

Jalynne wrote:
No, they're not, but sometimes, the generics have fillers in them that can cause
allergic reactions that the brand names do not. The opposite also can be true. I
have to be really careful with this.

I guess our drugs are like each one of us in our kitchens, give us all the
same recipe for potato salad and each one of them will taste different. lol
Shelly
"julia sidebottom" wrote in message
...
You and me both! As I just wrote a similar response Jerry walked
through and I was telling him what I had just wrote back... he chuckled
and recalled one of the worst allergy reactions he saw in me that had to
do with a generic drug/ brand name drug and it was the brand name that
caused the serious problem. So being careful is a primary concern but
there just isn't any way to know in advance .
juliasb

Jalynne wrote:
No, they're not, but sometimes, the generics have fillers in them that
can cause
allergic reactions that the brand names do not. The opposite also can
be true. I
have to be really careful with this.

"Paul & Suzie Beckwith" wrote in message
...

I would not say it is "far too easy." It is simply that if you need the
drugs, treatment, etc., you get what you need, irrespective of income.

But then we have the "postcode lottery" syndrome - if you live in one
area of the UK you can have A, B and C on the NHS with no trouble, but
if you live somewhere else you are proverbially "stuffed"...

I think you will find that steps are being taken to do away with this.

And I like it. In no way do I resent paying taxes to help people who
would
not be able to afford to pay for treatment. That could be me, one day.
It
happens.

The NHS has its defects, but would you really want to be without it?

No I wouldn't - but I *DO* wonder whether it will still be around in
its current form when I am old enough to wear purple... to coin a
phrase!

Suzie B
--
I am certain it will be around, and even better than it is now. Can you see
any political party being elected if it decided to abolish it? I am old
enough to remember what life was like before the NHS.

I am an optimist on this point. We may have to pay higher taxes. If so: so
be it. Taxes tax those who can afford to pay at a time when they can afford
to pay. The very poor pay no taxes but get the same treatment.

I was so impressed by the way and the speed with which the NHS dealt with my
breast cancer, and I am not alone. One of my friends was diagnosed on one
Thursday and had her op the following Monday. For her follow-up
radiotherapy, she had free transport to Christie's (the premier cancer
treatment hospital in the North of England) and, when she was too tired to
make the journey, free accommodation in a special hostel ar the hospital.
None of this cost her one penny (apart, of course for the taxes she had paid
in the past.)

By the way, will you be at Malvern? I don't know if I will: walking is
still a problem.

Marie

Yeah, I have gotten snarky comments in the grocery line because the
kids were wearing designer stuff their gramma sent, or I was wearing
nice clothes I have made.

Only had a lady apologize once. We were buying a lobster, which
anyone would be right to raise their eyebrows at. But the lobster in
question (the seafood manager named him Attila) had broken his bonds
and run amok in the lobster tank, ravaging his fellow lobsters and
leaving no living thing in his wake. The seafood manager, being
rather distraught, grabbed old Attila and steamed his renegade
crustacean self. Then he wrapped him up and stuck a $2 price tag on
him. We just happened to have the good fortune to run across him
before anyone else did! (G) After checking to make sure the decimal
point was in the right place (which was how we learned his name and
history), we sure as heck bought him! Swapped him for 5 pounds of
local honey too!
Anyway the cashier had to check on that decimal point as well, and the
lady behind us overheard and actually apologized for mumbleing
unpleasent things even though we hadn't heard her. It also got my
head patted by the elder gent at the next register (for luck), and
several people stepping over to gawk at the $2 'killer' lobster.
Best buy I had made at the grocery since they mismarked the aparagus
at 75 cents a pound instead of $1.75 a bunch.

NightMist
also on SSI and medicaid.

--
"It's such a gamble when you get a face"
- Richard Hell


I remember how, when I lived in Juneau Alaska and all food was
brought in by airplane or ferry, the stores just didn't discount food
that was about to go out of "sell by" date at all. No, they wanted to
make as much money as possible. If they couldn't sell it, no one was
going to have it. Eventually, some relented and gave the food which
was due to go off to homeless people - I volunteered for a while,
helping the organizers sort it out, etc.
But one of the things which really helps, especially if you are a
student in the UK, is that stores like Tesco start marking down the
food which has to be sold that day at about 2 in the afternoon, then
again at 4 and so on. When I get back from Glasgow to Dundee at 8 pm
I often go into the store and get a loaf of bread for 10 pence, and go
and look at the chilled things for sale. Often I can find a pizza for
60p or once I found an entire Indian meal for 1 pound. Yesterday, I
found a box of raspberries for 10p - I had half of it today in my
yogurt for breakfast. Mmm!



-- Jo in Scotland

The only people who are worried about the safety of the drugs in
Canada are the drug manufacturers and politicians (who receive huge
contributions from the drug manufacturers).

Mardi

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 10:01:11 -0800, "Dr. Quilter"
wrote:



Mardi wrote:

..drug manufactures charge us premium prices for
drugs they sell to other countries for a fraction of the price. If
you buy a prescription drug in Canada, chances are it is the exact
same drug you pay for in the USA. It's just cheaper because the drug
companies sell it to Canada for a lot less than they sell it for in
the USA. Same thing with Mexico.

that is why I don't understand when people are worried about the safey
of the drugs they would get from Canada - I think it is pretty insulting
to the Canadians to think they would have a lower standard than we do
here. of course, if you get the drugs from an iffy internet provider
that is a whole different story, but I am sure a legit canadian pharmacy
has the same or better quality controls than the US FDA!

about them selling the same drugs for much less to other countries, why
would they do it? are they just exploiting the market here? in other
words, are they getting as much as they can here, and also as much as
they can there in order to collect the max amount, even if the price
they can get for the same product elsewhere is less than here?

I know for example that there is almost NO research going on in
biotech/drug companies in the field of malaria, in which I work, because
there is no profitable market for it, they would have to sell the drugs
for pennies to african and other poor countries goverments because the
people that have the disease don't have any money. of course, then they
sent those troops to Liberia and 20% of them got malaria, and there are
a few cases in the US every year, so who knows, it might turn into
another West Nile Virus given the right conditions...

Real e-mail address spelled out to prevent spam. mardi at mardiweb dot com.
____________________

My Quilting page: http://www.mardiweb.com/quilts/MardiQuilts.html
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AARP supported the bill because changes are needed if prescriptions
are going to become more available for seniors. Still, they recognize
that this bill isn't the final product and they are continuing to work
to make changes and improvements on behalf of their members.

"teleflora" wrote in message news:IeL9c.2291$zc1.65@okepread03...
"julia sidebottom" wrote in message
...
Unfortunately my medication cost are very high. It averages to about
$1600 a month. Even the new changes in Medicare for prescriptions is
not going to be of any help to me...

The new changes in Medicare aren't going to help very many people. It's
gonna do a lot for the drug and insurance companies though, so that's a
plus, isn't it? AARP needs to be slapped - hard.

Cindy