[doran]

I will be having my second cataract surgery next week-- the doctor ordered my pre and post eye drops--only one was covered by insurance
The pharmacy said one of the medications Vigamox would cost me $82.00 and the other Ilevero would cost $212.00-- I could not believe that there was not a cheaper med for the procedure:
When I spoke to my pharmacy Publix at Colony Plaza I was told there were much less expensive medications that were covered by my insurance-
and that doctors always try to get the patient to use the newest drugs.

She gave me the name of Ketorolac this would take the place of Ilevero as one drug that is covered by my insurance and this was also the same drug I used for my right eye surgery nine months ago-- I also have a half a bottle that has not expired

In calling the doctors office they gave me a free bottle of Tobramycin to take the place of the Vigamox and I will have them call the pharmacy to get another bottle of Ketorolac for the procedure.

It pays to use a great pharmacy and I feel Publix in Colony is great.
Also many of these new drugs have discount coupons in the internet that will reduce the cost!!
Susan Doran

[Bonnevie]

at the VA we sometimes had to send patients to private doctors and they invariably would prescribed the newest, most expensive medications. We always had to call and ask them to use what was on our formulary. Patients should do what you did and question because often times the doctors will switch it when the patient asks, but gets huffy and won't do it when pharmacists ask.

[delima2000]

Thanks for the info.i go on May 21st.to the eye doctors to start my first round of drops for my right eye then next month for my left eye. Will keep that prescription in mind

[Golf View]

Originally Posted by doran

I will be having my second cataract surgery next week-- the doctor ordered my pre and post eye drops--only one was covered by insurance
The pharmacy said one of the medications Vigamox would cost me $82.00 and the other Ilevero would cost $212.00-- I could not believe that there was not a cheaper med for the procedure:
When I spoke to my pharmacy Publix at Colony Plaza I was told there were much less expensive medications that were covered by my insurance-
and that doctors always try to get the patient to use the newest drugs.

She gave me the name of Ketorolac this would take the place of Ilevero as one drug that is covered by my insurance and this was also the same drug I used for my right eye surgery nine months ago-- I also have a half a bottle that has not expired

In calling the doctors office they gave me a free bottle of Tobramycin to take the place of the Vigamox and I will have them call the pharmacy to get another bottle of Ketorolac for the procedure.

It pays to use a great pharmacy and I feel Publix in Colony is great.
Also many of these new drugs have discount coupons in the internet that will reduce the cost!!
Susan Doran

Do you think that maybe these doctors get free perks or kickbacks for pushing these expensive drugs? My personal experience was the doctor prescribed eye drops for pre-glaucoma costing approx. $300.00 for 90 days, I looked on the internet for an equivalent & found one for $10.00 for 90 days at WalMart. I confronted the doctor about this, he seemed sheepish & said that the cheaper drug would work just as well. You can come to your own conclusions.

[Bonnevie]

the free stuff for medical professionals has been cut back a lot. However, some of the companies get around it by having the doctors become speakers for them...they can make money giving talks to other drs..... or the companies will have them be part of a "study"

but like I said, if the patient asks, citing the expense, they are more apt to change to a cheaper med.

[KayakerNC]

But....sometimes the Brand medication does a better job than the generic.
I wouldn't jump to any conclusions about greed and kickbacks.
Especially on something as important as my vision.

[Bonnevie]

it's very, very rare and probably patient specific if a generic won't work as well as a brand name. frequently, the brand name companies actually make a generic version they sell thru another company. what I think is being discussed here, is the dr. is prescribing the newest medication on the block....so it's price at a premium, when there are older medications that do the same thing that are less pricey. Obviously, check with the dr. and if he has a legitimate reason for prescribing the expensive med that's one thing, but if as above, he says the older med will work just as well at a fraction of the cost, then that's an option.

[billethkid]

simply ask if the meds being prescribed are the same as last year for any given procedure.

If it is not ask for samples or a generic or an Rx for the meds they used last year.

Most often the new meds just are not in the insurance formularies yet....but will be.

There is absolutely no reason to pay big $$$ for the latest and greatest.

The doctor will not refute your request.

The Docs are in a no-win situation. Half of the people want the newest drug they saw on TV, and the other half want the cheapest. Hard to please anyone!

[FlaMermaid]

That's why the pharmaceutical reps are calling on the doctors. Prescriptions are then tracked at the dispensing pharmacy and "spiffs" are sent on to the prescribing doctor.

After having taken care of my father and being familiar with older drugs, I always, in a very nice way, ask the doctor for an older drug. Usually they have become generic by now.

[RErmer]

Here's a really good website to compare drug prices and in many cases get money-saving coupons:

GoodRx.com

You just enter the drug name and your zip code and can see the prices at the local pharmacies. I was amazed at the differences, even for relatively cheap generics.