The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Generic drug prices to plummet

Dayton gets boost from committee for UAV testing
11:48 p.m.
Patrol searches Springfield dealership for stolen cards
11:43 p.m.
Police headlines: Two accused of child endangering
11:41 p.m.
Ad calls Brown career politician
11:39 p.m.
Local Focus: Clark County for May 25
11:27 p.m.
> More headlines

6:20 PM Monday, July 25, 2011

By Linda A. Johnson

Associated Press

The cost of prescription medicines used by millions of people every day is about to plummet.

The next 14 months will bring generic versions of seven of the world’s 20 best-selling drugs, including the top two: cholesterol fighter Lipitor and blood thinner Plavix.

Generic versions of big-selling drugs for blood pressure, asthma, diabetes, depression, high triglycerides, HIV and bipolar disorder also are coming by September 2012.

Patients, along with businesses and taxpayers who help pay for prescription drugs through corporate and government prescription plans, collectively will save a fortune. That’s because generic drugs typically cost 20 percent to 80 percent less than the brand names.

Springfield Regional Medical Center and Mercy Memorial Hospital use generic drugs whenever possible for this reason, said Dr. Saifi Vohra, interim director of pharmacy for Community Mercy Health Partners.

“Whenever generic drugs come out it always helps the institutions – hospitals, retailers, home care ‑– wherever you deal with medication,” Vohra said.

Others are more skeptical of the benefits.

“It could benefit or not benefit us and our patients,” said Michelle Hemphill, marketing director for Villa Springfield nursing home. “What happens is each insurance plan dictates kind of medication it covers. If it only covers the name brand, it doesn’t matter if the generic is offered...we go with the generic whenever it’s available.”

The new generics will slice copayments of those with insurance that will cover it. For the uninsured, who have been paying full price, the savings will be much bigger.

Daly Powers, 25, an uninsured student who works two part-time jobs at low wages, says he often can’t afford the $220 a month for his depression and attention deficit disorder pills. He couldn’t buy either drug in June and says he’s struggling with his Spanish class and his emotions. He looks forward to his antidepressant, Lexapro, going generic early next year.

“It’d make all the difference in the world,” says Powers, of Bryan, Texas.

Reporter Everdeen Mason contributed to this report.

Share this article