The Cost in Mexico of America’s Most Expensive Drugs - New Additions
Concern over the cost of prescriptions drugs has overtaken concern over the U.S. healthcare system as the #1 concern of Americans. Over my years in Mexico, people have inquired frequently about the cost of certain drugs in Mexico. I listed the price of most of them in my blog of July 30, 2018.
New inquiries still arrive in my mailbox from time to time. I include here those I have received since that post. Prices may change a bit over time and U.S. drug cost can vary to the extreme depending on what kind of deal insurance companies and benefit managers can broker. The list is meant merely as a guide and illustration as to the degree of the problem.
Price gouging in the U.S. runs particularly deep for medicines for arthritis, cancer, and diabetes, where prices in the U.S. typically are double what they are in Mexico. More surprising is the cost of drugs to treat mental illness and mood disorders. Here the pharmaceutical companies really outdo themselves. Drugs that are cost prohibitive in the U.S. are not just less expensive, they are actually cheap in Mexico (as both my lists show).
When I am in the U.S. I live in downtown Denver. I frequently take the 16th Street Mall ride to meet friends at upscale bars and restaurants along its route. I occasionally like to take my laptop to work at Union Station, which pipes in cool jazz and carries a nice ambiance of people enjoying travel. In these places, it’s not unusual find myself in the presence of the dispossessed, their ravings and conversations with ghosts and people not there. I can’t help but wonder how many should be under treatment and cannot afford the cost of medications.
In reviewing what analysts are saying about drug prices in current news, certain trends are noteworthy. The American public no longer finds pharmaceutical company claims that such high prices are necessary to fuel innovation as credible. For decades. every time the specter arises of Congress doing something about drug prices, the industry ignites fear of missing a cure for Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. However, a number of studies question the notion that high drug prices and innovative research are inextricably linked.
In the debate over the drug-negotiation bill in Congress progresses. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., responded to this standard defense by drug companies by noting that the pharmaceutical industry spent $79 billion on sales, marketing and administration last year — $22 billion more than it spent on research/
Today’s new pills typically have only modest, if any, proven therapeutic value over existing treatments. As a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found, nearly half of the drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration between 2005 and 2011 lacked any tangible health benefits, such as prolonging life or relieving symptoms.
Another study published in the Journal of Health Affairs suggests that, largely, costs have gone up because companies are raising the price of drugs that are already available. “We found that, in the case of brand-name drugs, rising prices were driven by manufacturers increasing prices of medications that are already in the market rather than [by] the entry of new products,” says author Inmaculada Hernandez, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy for CNBC Make It, its business, money, and career section.
“Lack of competition and the regulatory environment in the U.S. allow for price increases much higher than in other countries.” Overall, our country spends twice as much as its peers, yet it gets poorer results. “When it comes down to it, most of the time, drugmakers charge high prices because they can, not because they have to,” concluded Avik Roy, analyst for Forbes in his piece on why Americans pay so much more.
Disclaimer: This list is provided as a courtesy and to demonstrate just how greedy Big Pharm. The list focuses on only the most expensive drugs. I’m not an expert, or even a resource, on how to purchase prescription drugs in Mexico. To look up ones that aren’t listed try Farmacia de San Pablo and the Mexican government site NCBI. Make sure to research all the various names for the drug, and look up the name in Spanish. Remember Mexican sites will list the price in pesos, and uses the same sign ($). The exchange rate generally runs between 17-19 pesos per American dollar.
Drug Count Cost (converted from
pesos at 18:1)
Aciphex (Rabeprazole) (stomach infections, ulcers ) 30 U.S. $557 Mexico: $112
Abiraterone (zytiga)(prostate cancer) 30 U.S $10,000 Mexico: $4,390
Apixaban (blood clots) 60 $534 Mexico: $117
Aripiprazole (mental/mood disorders) 20 20 $688 Mexico: $20
Brilinta (blood clot prevention) 30 $388 Mexico: $63
Eliquis (blood clot prevention) 60 $501 Mexico: $105
Enbrel (Etanercept) (arthritis) 4 syringes $2,710 Mexico: $646
Imbruvica (ibrutinib) (leukemia) 28 $6,800 Mexico $2,715
Jardiance (farxiga) (diabetes) 28 $515 Mexico: $68
Lovenox (enoxaparin sodium) (anticoagulant) 2 $45 Mexico: $45
Symbicort (asthma) 1 $263 Mexico: $48
Xeljanz (arthritis) 28 $2,458 Mexico: $584
About the author:
Kerry Baker is the author of three books for those considering life in Mexico. “The Interactive Guide to Learning Spanish Free Online” is a curation of the best free tools on the web, with interactive links and lesson plans according to skill and level. You can follow the lessons, or create your own unique lesson plan every day according to your goals. “If Only I Had a Place” is your guide for renting well in Mexico and avoiding the pitfalls of renting in a foreign country as an expat. Her most recent book is “The Mexico Solution: Saving your money, sanity, and quality of life through part-time life in Mexico.”