COPD drug rip-off
Av-Med Medicare advised that Spiriva, a medication that treats asthma and COPD, will move to Tier 4 in 2017 and my co-pay will increase from $35 to $75 — more than 100 percent!
My records indicate that while I now pay $35, Av-Med pays $311.71; that’s $346.71 to the pharmacy for a 30-day supply.
Inquiries overseas show this exact Spiriva, manufactured in Germany as is the one here, is available in Trinidad for about $70 U.S, dollars — that is not a co-pay, that is the total cost — which is $276.11 less than it costs here.
Who makes that exorbitant profit? The drug agency who imports it or the pharmacy that sells it?
What a disgrace.
Anne Levee,
Kendall
This story was originally published November 2, 2016 at 9:01 PM with the headline "COPD drug rip-off."