Therapeutics Daily reports on physician complaints related to a letter sent by CVS Caremark promoting the use of Cymbalta for fibromyalgia. Here's what a Cochrane Review said about Cymbalta for fibromyalgia:
"No direct comparison has been performed between duloxetine and any of these other drugs. As yet it is not clear whether the use of duloxetine is cost effective when compared to the other drugs already in use."
It doesn't sound like the letter offers good information on selecting the highest value medication. So they may not be looking out for plans and patients as #1. But I also wonder whether the revenues from this letter would be offset by their lost profit margins if utilization moved away from generics and to brand-name drugs. Both retail and mail-service pharmacies tend to make more money on generics. Is this a case of shooting everyone in the foot?
Showing posts with label Caremark. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Caremark. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Where's Waldo (going to get the best drug price)?
My Twitter inbox continues to fill up with press releases about cities signing on to the Caremark discount drug program. So I decided to do some online comparison shopping. I chose Costco because they have an easy to use drug pricing tool.
Costco Caremark
Lipitor 20mg #30 $122.07 $138.25
simvastatin 10mg #30 $5.90 $41.68
Nexium 20mg #30 $166.28 $185.13
omeprazole 20mg #30 $15.18 $45.49
Plavix 75mg #30 $156.41 $172.59
I have a challenge for you. Find the drug from this top 200 drug by sales for 2008 list that costs less through the Caremark NLC program than through Costco. For the more adventurous, find the pharmacy that publishes the best prices.
Links to drug pricing sites:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
