Expensive antibiotic!

[dennis in se pa]

Is this right? A doctor wrote a prescription for antibiotics for my daughter who has strept throat. I get amoxicillin for around $8 for 30 of them. This script was for 500mg of cefadroxil and it cost around $80!!! Wouldn't amoxicillin have worked as well? Do doctors get rewarded for prescribing high priced drugs?

[legion]

I know they are certainly encouraged by drug reps to prescribe the new, expensive (and risky) drugs over the older, proven ones.

[john70t]

I've been hearing that (due to overuse) antibiotics are increasingly having a much shorter usefulness period, and Staph infections from open wounds are becoming like Ebola.
There are also a few new infections which are basically untreatable with any of todays medicines. SOL.

The body is the best healer, which is why clean air/water/food/etc is so imortant.

[IROC]

I was prescribed some Levaquin (sp?) a couple of years ago and the prescription was $190. That didn't work so they put me on Augmentin. Total cost to get rid of a sinus infection? $300...

[livi]

That is both unnecessary and careless.

If he actually took a throat swab and confirmed the throat infection was caused by Streptococci bacteria (most common cause for bacterial throat infections), then the most simple brand of Penicillin would have sufficed. There is still no resistance among Streptococci to common Penicillin.

A broader spectrum antibiotic (like Cefadroxil) will only create further risk of resistance in the community and there is no advantage in this case but for the Drug company.

Cefadroxil could however be of choice with repeated or persistent throat infections (which I presume this was not the case?).

Besides, chances are (if the doc did not confirm with a throat swab), that the infection was caused by a virus - in which case antibiotics is of no use at all of course..

[dennis in se pa]

Yes Markus, they did a throat swab and determined it to be strep. They said they would prescribe an antibiotic. I was thinking it would be affordable. I was shocked when told it was $80!!! This is criminal!

[Nathans_Dad]

For simple strep infections, a penicillin derivative should have worked ok. It would be tough to say why the physician made the choice he/she did, since I wasn't there to see the patient. The main factor in cost to the patient for drugs is your healthcare plan. If a drug is on your plan as one of the preferred ones then you pay less money, if it is either restricted on your plan or not covered at all then you pay more. Your physician should be familiar with which are the best choices for a given situation given the choice of drugs provided by the insurance plan.

To answer the other question, no we get nothing back out of a prescription. The drug reps will sometimes bring a lunch into the office in exchange for some time to talk about their drug and they will often leave free samples for the patients in the office, but other than that...nothing.

[Neilk]

Originally posted by Nathans_Dad
To answer the other question, no we get nothing back out of a prescription. The drug reps will sometimes bring a lunch into the office in exchange for some time to talk about their drug and they will often leave free samples for the patients in the office, but other than that...nothing.

Things have changed in the past 5 years. A friend of mine worked for Guidant selling pacemakers and defibrillators. They would conveniently invite their doctors to weekend ski trips in Taos or Whistler, where they could "learn" about their new products. They are on a tighter leash now.

[Nathans_Dad]

Yeah, that stuff went away about 5-6 years ago.

[azasadny]

Yep, the new antibiotics are very expensive. Remember how much Cipro (Ciprofloxacin) was when it was released?

[dennis in se pa]

"Yep, the new antibiotics are very expensive. "

The question is - Why ask a client to spend $80 to solve a problem when an $8 solution would work just fine?

[nostatic]

avoid malpractice. Sometimes docs who are somewhat clueless about the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance.

I'm appreciating my health plan. $5 for generic, $20 for name brand. Period.

[targa911S]

big pharmacy will kill us all for their own profit. we are all their test subjects. Anybody seen "Constant Gardener"?

[TerryH]

Regardless of what a doctor prescribes, I always ask for the generic equilvelant at the pharmacy and they always provide it. With new drugs this probably isn't possible in every circumstance.