Prescription drug costs on the rise

By PHYLLIS J. ZORN

Hays Daily News

The high price of prescription drugs is the subject of much attention, especially with Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius signing the state on with a Canadian online drug service.

A local pharmacist said there are better and safer ways to save money on drugs. According to Paul Koerner, pharmacy manager at Walgreens in Hays, the best way for consumers to save money on prescriptions is to talk to their doctors and ask questions about the drugs they are prescribed.

“People have a lot more control over what their drug costs are than they think,” Koerner said.

The price of a bottle of pills is driven by how much the pharmaceutical company charges the retailer, Koerner said.

“For every dollar a pharmacy sells, they're only taking home a few cents,” Koerner said.

The pharmaceutical companies invest a lot of money researching, developing, testing and marketing drugs. That means they look to recapture those costs before the patent runs out and generic drug-makers can produce the drugs. Pharmaceutical companies send drug representatives to promote their drugs to physicians, and the cost of that promotion is part of what's charged by the manufacturer, Koerner said. So is the cost of advertising done by the drug-makers.

“It's not that there's not a lot of profit. It's that the pharmacy isn't the one getting the profit,” Koerner said.

Trade regulations in the United States allow the drug-makers to charge enough to offset those costs, but once the drug patent expires, that drug can be made by any generic drug company.

Over the past few years, many major drugs have become available in generic form, Koerner said.

A generic drug is not inferior by any stretch, Koerner said. And the company that makes the generic drug doesn't have company representatives promoting their products.

“The generic companies have to prove to the FDA that it's the same drug, absorbed the same way and works in the body the same way as the brand name drug,” Koerner said. “Everyone should at least try the generic drugs.”

Koerner points out that physicians want to prescribe the best medication to treat the condition, and that it is in the best interests of drug company representatives to hold out their products as “the best.” But newer isn't always better, Koerner said. A drug that has been on the market longer has a better-established track record.

When patients specifically ask for a drug they've seen advertised, many physicians will prescribe that drug if they believe it is appropriate for the patient's condition, Koerner said. Often, though, a less expensive drug will do just as well.

Koerner said he often sees patients come to the pharmacy and refuse to purchase high-priced prescriptions or take them less often than ordered.

“The thing I tell doctors is: ‘Is the best medication, never taken, better than a cheaper medication that gets taken?' ” Koerner said.

Besides asking if a less costly prescription will do the job, Koerner encourages people to ask if a pill can be cut in half. Quite a few medications can be prescribed at a higher dose and the pill cut in half before taking it. That can pare away nearly half the price of a month's supply because it means buying 15 pills instead of 30.

For example, Lipitor 20 mg and Lipitor 40 mg are almost the same price, and can be safely cut in half, Koerner said.

“For people taking a lot of medications, periodically ask your doctor if you really still need all those medications,” Koerner advised.

Koerner cautioned people against using online drug services for the same reason he tells them to always use the same pharmacy. That way the pharmacist knows all the prescriptions being taken and is alert to any potential for drug interaction.

Another reason he encourages people to go to a pharmacist they know is to avoid the potential of ending up with a counterfeit drug. Some of them look so much like the real thing, even pharmacists could be fooled.

“All people look at when they buy drugs is the cost of the drug. You have to put in there the value of the good pharmacist who takes the time to talk to you about your drugs,” Koerner said.

Reporter Phyllis Zorn can be reached at (785) 628-1081, ext. 137, or by e-mail at

phylz@dailynews.net.