Drugs are Cheap

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.