Thursday, October 22, 2015

More About Unethical Drug Prices

As if the example of Turing Pharmaceuticals and the 5,000% price increase for Daraprim weren't enough, two days ago the New York Times described another example of blatantly unethical - but entirely legal - drug  pricing.

Horizon Pharma has combined the generic equivalents of Motrin and Pepcid into a single pill, Duexis. Taking one of each would cost no more than $40 per month. For the single pill that combines the two ingredients, Horizon asks for $1,500! To circumvent the stunned look a pharmacist would give to a patient who brings the Duexis prescription into the pharmacy, Horizon encourages physicians to send the gold-plated prescription directly to a mail order pharmacy that will send the medication to the patient and deal directly with insurers.

Several decades ago I saw a patient for whom I wanted to prescribe a low dose (25 milligrams) of the antidepressant Zoloft. At the time the two available dosages - 50 and 100 milligrams - were priced the same. The patient was a thoughtful person and I was interested in the relevant ethical issues, so I asked if he thought it was fair for me to prescribe the 100 milligram pill and ask him to divide it into four pieces. He initially said "no," and I prescribed the 50 milligram pill to be broken in half.

Some minutes later he returned to my office. "I've been thinking," he said. "I survived the Nazis during World War II because other people took risks to protect me. I want to do this little bit for the public good. Why should the people who help pay for my insurance spend more than is necessary for me to get my medication?"

Unfortunately, Horizon does not share my patient's moral vision. Although its actions are legal, if Hippocrates were reincarnated, here's the dialogue that might ensue:
Hippocrates: "Didn't I make 'first, do no harm' clear in my teaching?"
Horizon: "What harm are we doing? Duexis is a good medication. And the patient isn't paying - it's the insurance company!"
Hippocrates: "We didn't have insurance companies in my day. But even an old timer like me can understand that the insurer's money comes from all the working people who pay into the insurance pool. For every patient who uses Duexis instead of the two generic ingredients separately, you are taking $1,460 per month out of the pocket of working people. That's harm! You should be ashamed of yourself!"
When I Googled Horizon a few minutes ago I was happy to see that the revelation of its legal but unethical practice has sent its stock tumbling. The invisible hand is giving the company a well-deserved slap!





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