Cost of migraine pills causes patients to scrimp and hoard

Every standard Express Scripts clinical program - prior authorization, quantity limits, step therapy - is based on peer-reviewed, clinical evidence and is reviewed and approved by our pharmacy and therapeutics committee Many insurance companies limit the number of migraine pills they will pay for each month, so many patients "fearing they'll run out " don't take the medication when they need it, according to a recent study by ... via Providence Journal

[Ellen Englund]

Absolutely right on. Thank you for this story! My insurance limits me to 6 triptans a month (and mind you I pay $850 a month for family coverage!) and I can't afford to have more migraines than allowed. I have sought and tried just about every treatment possible. I get 10-12 a month. The Triptans work. If I don't use them I end up in the emergency room which costs me and my insurance plan a lot more.

My question is when will one of the triptans become generic???????

[Gothique]

I work for the company that packages Imitrex.

Let me tell you first hand that this drug would be a lot cheaper if there wasn't so much waste involved. Each card of 9 tablets costs $250.00. We have to throw out about $50,000 dollars worth of products a day due to defects.

Now when I say defects I don't mean opened pills or missing Lot & Exp. I'm talking about a dot, the size of a pencil mark on the card. Or there is a squiggly blue line next to the picture of the pill.

Let me ask you. If you are suffering from a severe migraine do you really care about dots and squiggles?

I doubt it.

[Kit]

Christ, when I'm in the middle of a migraine, I really don't give a rip about the expiration date. I'd take the pill even knowing it was expired. Why don't they put it in a bottle like everyone else? Then we don't have to worry about misprints on the card?

[Anne]

Hi!

Here in Denmark we now get Sumatriptan (that is the generic for Imitrex) for less than $US1 for 50 mg tablets. The patent for the 'oldfashioned' Imitrex (not the rapid formulation, but classic filmed tablets) ran out more than a year ago, and the prices went down (see http://www.migraeniker.dk/english/index_eng.h... )

This now places the responsibility for not taking too many tablets on the GP as well as on the migraineur instead of on the insurance.

The other triptans still keep up the high prices.

Unfortunately we do not yet have data on the possible increase in overmedication. But it sure makes life a lot easier, and we probably get fewer cases of overmedication with a mixture of triptans and painkillers. A mixed overmedication seems to be more difficult to get out of than triptans alone.

Hope you can use this information somehow :-)

Anne

[judy]

I just got my second prescription for generic sumatriptan filled from assetchemist.co.uk, for 36 100mg. pills (6 packs of 6 ea.) for about $34 including postage. It takes about 3 weeks from U.K. to Ohio. This one is manufactured by Sandoz Pharmaceuticals GmbH, Carl-Zeiss-Ring 3, D-85737 Ismaning, Germany.

Again--all you have to do is order & pay for them online and have your doctor's office fax in a prescription. Easy to order and good customer service.

[Calvin]

Ellen Englund wrote:

Absolutely right on. Thank you for this story! My insurance limits me to 6 triptans a month (and mind you I pay $850 a month for family coverage!) and I can't afford to have more migraines than allowed. I have sought and tried just about every treatment possible. I get 10-12 a month. The Triptans work. If I don't use them I end up in the emergency room which costs me and my insurance plan a lot more.
My question is when will one of the triptans become generic???????

Just in case the cost of the migraine tabs is way tooo high. I have a friend who was a Migrane Junkie, after spending a fortune on medication for her pain, all that it took to totally receive relief was the Bio disc, this is a product exclusively marketed by questnet, contact me for more information on [e-mail].

[Danyel]

Calvin wrote:

<quoted text>
Just in case the cost of the migraine tabs is way tooo high. I have a friend who was a Migrane Junkie, after spending a fortune on medication for her pain, all that it took to totally receive relief was the Bio disc, this is a product exclusively marketed by questnet, contact me for more information on [e-mail].

A migraine junkie??? WTF kind of "term" is that? It is quite obvious that you do not have ANY first hand knowledge of what a migraine is and what it soes to one's body. Quit trying to swindle everybody your "product." It is a scam...
Oh, and please don't come back at me with your blah, blah, blah. We are actual migraine suffers that do not need your product. What we need is a cure and affordable pain management.

[Calvinmoses]

Danyel wrote:

<quoted text>
A migraine junkie??? WTF kind of "term" is that? It is quite obvious that you do not have ANY first hand knowledge of what a migraine is and what it soes to one's body. Quit trying to swindle everybody your "product." It is a scam...
Oh, and please don't come back at me with your blah, blah, blah. We are actual migraine suffers that do not need your product. What we need is a cure and affordable pain management.

What's your case Danyel?? excuse the term "junkie" but this was a colleague that had a BAAAAD migraine day in day out, accompanied by a lot of vomiting and more stuff, hence the term. But all the same my advise was not to you since you feel you want to remain with your issues, let me address those that need a way out of there present predicament. This bio disc worked for her and hence my crusade to let ALL know and you shall by no means stop me...

[Danyel]

Calvinmoses wrote:

<quoted text>
What's your case Danyel?? excuse the term "junkie" but this was a colleague that had a BAAAAD migraine day in day out, accompanied by a lot of vomiting and more stuff, hence the term. But all the same my advise was not to you since you feel you want to remain with your issues, let me address those that need a way out of there present predicament. This bio disc worked for her and hence my crusade to let ALL know and you shall by no means stop me...

Well, that's just wonderful that it worked for her. Maybe she could promote the product. It would be good marketing for you. topix isn't exactly the place to be marketing anything though. This product is not for me. I'd get better pain relief by smashing a bottle over my head...

[Calvinmoses]

Danyel wrote:

<quoted text>
Well, that's just wonderful that it worked for her. Maybe she could promote the product. It would be good marketing for you. topix isn't exactly the place to be marketing anything though. This product is not for me. I'd get better pain relief by smashing a bottle over my head...

Thanx Danyel, well I don't know if I am marketing here... maybe I am one of those overzealous good news bearers and hence my submission.

[Sergey45]

http://www.tensionheadache.medgrip.com

[mamma]

Has anyone heard of treating migraines with Botox? Since we're talking about cost, it actually works out to less depending on how many migraines you get a month. From what I understand, it works because it relaxes the muscles that trigger the migraines. If you have extended medical, I think it's mostly covered.

[Debbie]

I get 15-20 migraines/mo that rate an "8" or higher on the pain index. I can't tolerate Imitrex (it actually makes me vomit) but Maxalt is a life saver. Back to the article that we are commenting on...yes I do have to "hoard" and puzzle together when I get to take my $260/mo 12 Maxalts or when I take something else. We NEED a safe & effective generic for this medication!!!

[Debbie]

By the way, why is the generic for Maxalt (Rizatriptan) safe and available for those in Canada, the UK, Australia, etc... but not for those of us in the U.S? "Big Pharma" and the lobbists on the hill just want their $$$ while we suffer!

[Debbie]

mamma wrote:

Has anyone heard of treating migraines with Botox? Since we're talking about cost, it actually works out to less depending on how many migraines you get a month. From what I understand, it works because it relaxes the muscles that trigger the migraines. If you have extended medical, I think it's mostly covered.

Mamma, Botox works for some (unfortunatly not for me). If it is covered in Canada, give it a whirl - If you're referring to the multi-injections they give under the scalp, I've never heard of any damage, some are helped by it. I have heard some bad responses to Botox that is injected into the muscles of the neck (i.e. temporary paralysis).