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by luafox 499 days ago
Super exciting development in the world of medicine, but the price tag is really steep. Starting at US$15.50 per pill, and you're supposed to take two pills at a time. Many will opt for cheaper options.

Disclaimer: I'm Canadian with extended insurance, so I have little perspective on drug prices.

3 comments

This is to treat acute pain, probably mostly post-op as alternative to opioids. At most you'll probably get a week's worth of pills from your doc post-op, and I would say the cost is worth it if it works better than NSAIDs and it's not addictive.
Can this be taken alongside NSAIDs? If so it might not even need to be that great to still be worthwhile for that first week after an operation.
"It's worth it" isn't an answer to "drug prices are systematically inflated so many cannot afford them regardless.
In the context of post op painkillers, the cost of this pill is a drop in the bucket vs cost of hospitalization. The alternative to inflated drug prices is not having the drugs or, I guess, nationalizing the pharmaceutical companies? I don't think you'll get many takers for that plan tho.
That’s expensive today, yes, but it’s so hella expensive to bring a drug to market at all. I don’t mind a brand new drug costing $30/dose for a short term. That’s way more understandable than insulin or asthma inhalers going up 400%.
If it means staying away from addiction, I'll pay it. Opiods would scare me if I ever needed that level of pain treatment.
They should, synthethic opioids are VERY enjoyable, VERY risky and SUPER addictive.

I was on Oxy 24/7 for a month following surgery, went through hell.

I count myself as very, very lucky that opioids don’t do that for me at all. I’ve had strong prescriptions for various short-term needs over the years and they just make me a little sleepy. They don’t feel pleasant in any way, in the same way that Motrin doesn’t give me a warm fuzzy feeling either.
My Armodafinil Rx cost $35/pill — not covered by insurance.