Ana had lost her asthma spacer

[conuly]

And I couldn't get a new one without a prescription, so I ordered off of ebay. As it turns out, you're not supposed to use her new medication with a spacer, so that's all right. (I *always* read the inserts.) Except you do need to use the rescue inhaler with one, and as it's been so humid she's used her rescue inhaler, in addition to routinely using it before engaging in strenuous activity like track or swimming.

Except - of course - she lost the new spacer! Well, children will lose things, and so will I, so when we popped by the doctor's office this week I got a new prescription for a spacer, no need to wait for it to come in the mail, right? (Nevermind that I maintain it is ridiculous that we need a prescription for a piece of plastic in the first place.)

Can somebody please explain to me why the exact same Aerochamber I can order off of eBay for $13 costs $42 at the pharmacy? Even paying for expedited shipping, it still comes out to less than half the price. That is seven flavors of fucked up, and I don't like any of them. It's not a used product either (ew). It comes right in the package, never removed from box.

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Comments

[goss]

Just curious whether you got the cheaper medication from inside North America or abroad? Or if the product off eBay was maybe produced/distributed from a different location from the more expensive one?

I noticed that when I was living in Canada, I found the Pharmacy to be much more expensive than the ones here in Trinidad, so I would top up all medication in Trinidad every time I came home for vacation. Also my mother, who is a nurse, was telling me that sometimes the less expensive meds are made/distributed by a different source than the original product, even if it looks and works the same.

[conuly]

It's not medication, exactly, it's a medical device to help deliver medication more effectively.

I suspect this spacer was shipped across the border from Canada, actually - spacers and asthma meds/equip are cheaper there, I'm told, than here.

[killing_rose]

....i could get a spacer off ebay? you are my favorite. (i have been refusing based upon "not covered by insurance" and "nearly 50 dollars" and "fuck it, if i have to, i will use a toilet paper roll thingy".

[conuly]

Yes, you can. I'm glad I helped you out :)

[old-cutter-john.livejournal.com]

You need a prescription so that insurance companies can be obliged to pay for the thing if they've written their policies that way (as many do). The extra twenty-nine dollars pays for the processing of the prescription and any associated insurance claim. Or, more likely, you're being taxed at an outrageous rate to pay for the processing of somebody else's insurance claims.

[conuly]

Gonna say to you what I just said downthread - ugh. Of all the gouging practices!

[dandelion.livejournal.com]

"Can somebody please explain to me why the exact same Aerochamber I can order off of eBay for $13 costs $42 at the pharmacy?"

The one you're buying off eBay might not be an American one. American wholesale drug costs are up to 10x higher than wholesale costs in other countries, because large American bodies (eg Medicare) legally aren't allowed to negotiate down drug prices. Our wholesale Aerochambers are currently $7. Additionally, you'll be paying the pharmacist, insurance companies, etc (they take a larger cut than in some countries).

[conuly]

Ugh.