A least they’re cheap for common problems your doctor
encounters in the office which are the same as I see in hotels. Here are
examples from my favorite internet supplier as of 2018.
Some drugs cost almost nothing, less than a penny
a pill. A thousand hydrochlorothiazide (the most popular diuretic and blood
pressure pill) costs $6.34. Valium 5mg is over a penny: $12.20 for a thousand.
I can buy a thousand Benadryl, an antihistamine, for $11.28.
An excellent prescription pain remedy, Tramadol,
costs $1.69 for a hundred; $15.11 for a thousand.
Long ago states began requiring doctors to file a
report each time they hand out narcotic pain pills, so I gave it up. Despite
the impressive street price of the most popular drug of abuse, Oxycontin, a
bottle of a hundred costs $8.77.
Cortisone cream: $0.99 per tube.
Antibiotic eye drops for conjunctivitis: $2.25
Antibiotic ear drops for swimmer’s ear used to be
about twice as expensive, but they’ve shot up to over $20. Luckily, it’s
considered OK to use antibiotic eye drops for ear infections, so that’s what I
do.
The three day Bactrim antibiotic treatment for
urinary infection (six tablets) is about 35 cents. A hundred costs $5.40.
Ten day treatment for strep throat, twenty
amoxicillin 500mg: $1.30.
Ten day treatment for pneumonia, twenty
doxycycline, is about $1.70.
A big attraction of injections is that a doctor
can charge for them. If he writes a prescription, the pharmacy gets the money.
Don’t assume common injectables are expensive. To begin, a disposable syringe
costs twenty cents.
For allergies and itching, a vial containing
thirty doses of injectable cortisone (Decadron 4mg) costs $11.06. That’s about
40 cents a shot.
For pain, a shot of morphine costs about $2.30 if
the doctor buys single-dose vials, but that’s an expensive form. Multiple dose
vials cost less than half as much per dose if he or she can find them.
Within the past five years, ondansetron has
replaced Compazine and Phenergan as the leading treatment of vomiting. One shot
costs 15 cents. A vial of ten doses is $1.54
Plain old Valium injectable has skyrocketed. This
happens when some companies stop making a drug and the others realize they have
little competition. Five years ago I paid $5.04 for a vial of ten shots; it’s
now $51.00.
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