Comments on: Is Merck Price Gouging With Gardasil HPV Vaccine? The Most Expensive Vaccine Ever. http://buzzdroid.com/sexuality/is-merck-price-gouging-with-gardasil-hpv-vaccine-the-most-expensive-vaccine-ever/ Strategery In Action Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:59:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: anonymous http://buzzdroid.com/sexuality/is-merck-price-gouging-with-gardasil-hpv-vaccine-the-most-expensive-vaccine-ever/#comment-4346 anonymous Mon, 05 May 2008 11:33:57 +0000 http://buzzdroid.com/sexuality/is-merck-price-gouging-with-gardasil-hpv-vaccine-the-most-expensive-vaccine-ever/#comment-4346 Insurance companies are thiefs - and the doctors, republicans are a lot to blame. - I am not a politics nut, but I have been working in the medical profession for 29 years - The drug companies have so much money - they lavish the doctors with gifts, lavish vacations, dinner parties, etc. They could put this money to better use or instead of spending millions or billions of dollars on their pimps, they could lower their prices on their medications - the rich just get richer and the poor can usually get Medicaid or...? It is not fair. I have a 14 year old daughter - I am a single working mom who does have insurance, but unfortunately this is one treatment insurance does not cover. Where are people like us to go? The poor can go to their Community Health Departments to receive this vaccination free, but we, who are working every day trying to make a living - have this denied by our insurance co. I love my daughter and this is one gift I would love to give her - Insurance companies are thiefs - and the doctors, republicans are a lot to blame. - I am not a politics nut, but I have been working in the medical profession for 29 years - The drug companies have so much money - they lavish the doctors with gifts, lavish vacations, dinner parties, etc. They could put this money to better use or instead of spending millions or billions of dollars on their pimps, they could lower their prices on their medications - the rich just get richer and the poor can usually get Medicaid or…? It is not fair. I have a 14 year old daughter - I am a single working mom who does have insurance, but unfortunately this is one treatment insurance does not cover. Where are people like us to go? The poor can go to their Community Health Departments to receive this vaccination free, but we, who are working every day trying to make a living - have this denied by our insurance co. I love my daughter and this is one gift I would love to give her -

]]> By: Michelle http://buzzdroid.com/sexuality/is-merck-price-gouging-with-gardasil-hpv-vaccine-the-most-expensive-vaccine-ever/#comment-3828 Michelle Sun, 20 Apr 2008 02:41:34 +0000 http://buzzdroid.com/sexuality/is-merck-price-gouging-with-gardasil-hpv-vaccine-the-most-expensive-vaccine-ever/#comment-3828 I have Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO coverage and my Dr. probably do to the fact that he does not make much profit from the vaccine, told me to order it directly from CVS pharmacy. I paid the $25 co-pay for the medication and then another $20 copay for a Dr. visit to have a nurse administer the shot. This may be an option for those not able nor willing to pay such high prices. I have Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO coverage and my Dr. probably do to the fact that he does not make much profit from the vaccine, told me to order it directly from CVS pharmacy. I paid the $25 co-pay for the medication and then another $20 copay for a Dr. visit to have a nurse administer the shot. This may be an option for those not able nor willing to pay such high prices.

]]> By: Chet http://buzzdroid.com/sexuality/is-merck-price-gouging-with-gardasil-hpv-vaccine-the-most-expensive-vaccine-ever/#comment-3764 Chet Thu, 27 Mar 2008 01:53:58 +0000 http://buzzdroid.com/sexuality/is-merck-price-gouging-with-gardasil-hpv-vaccine-the-most-expensive-vaccine-ever/#comment-3764 [quote comment="3760"]Vaccines are very poor economic deals for drug companies for several reasons. 1. Most vaccines are only administered once or one series per person. Compared with chronic drugs like cholesterol, pain, diabetes medications and more, where a patient will be paying for tablets every day for the rest of their lives, vaccines have a much smaller revenue pool. 2. Clinical research is very expensive. ....If you're dividing that among billions of tablets, each can be inexpensive, but sales forecasts for gardasil are only for young females - there are perhaps a few tens of millions of total units to be sold, over many years. 3. Vaccine research is much more expensive than for most drugs. [/quote] While it may be true that many or even most vaccines are not as profitable as other pharmaceuticals for drug companies, I'm not sure that your argument is an accurate reflection in the case of Gardasil. 1) Gardasil is three injections and there is no data about if, when, or how often people will have to receive a booster in the future. 2) Sales forecasts aren't just for young females. Medical News Today Reports that "Merck & Co., Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted, and designated for priority review, the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for GARDASIL® [Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent] (Types 6, 11, 16, 18) Vaccine, Recombinant] for the potential use in women aged 27 through 45." So yes, they are intending on vaccinating groups other than "young women." Likewise I have been told by Merck representatives that trials are going on to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of Gardasil in men. We're not taking about some obscure vaccine that only a few people will be getting here. 3) For the record. Merck's own 2007 earnings reports indicates that Merck is making tons of money on this product. "The Company's cervical cancer vaccine, GARDASIL, posted total sales as recorded by Merck of $339 million for the fourth quarter and $1.5 billion for the year. As of the fourth quarter, GARDASIL has been approved in 93 countries, many under fast track or expedited review, with launches under way in 76 of those countries. The vaccine remains under review in approximately 40 other countries and territories." I don't think it would take much work to show that Merck is in fact price gouging on this product. Your comments are correct with respect to most vaccines, but I don't believe that they apply in this case. Gardasil certainly isn't a "poor economic deal" for Merck. They are intending the product to be used in every human being in every country. Again, I'm not saying that Gardasil isn't an important product, but that Merck is, in fact, price gouging us for it. Brian said

Vaccines are very poor economic deals for drug companies for several reasons.

1. Most vaccines are only administered once or one series per person. Compared with chronic drugs like cholesterol, pain, diabetes medications and more, where a patient will be paying for tablets every day for the rest of their lives, vaccines have a much smaller revenue pool.

2. Clinical research is very expensive. ….If you’re dividing that among billions of tablets, each can be inexpensive, but sales forecasts for gardasil are only for young females - there are perhaps a few tens of millions of total units to be sold, over many years.

3. Vaccine research is much more expensive than for most drugs.

While it may be true that many or even most vaccines are not as profitable as other pharmaceuticals for drug companies, I’m not sure that your argument is an accurate reflection in the case of Gardasil.

1) Gardasil is three injections and there is no data about if, when, or how often people will have to receive a booster in the future.

2) Sales forecasts aren’t just for young females. Medical News Today Reports that “Merck & Co., Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted, and designated for priority review, the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for GARDASIL® [Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent] (Types 6, 11, 16, 18) Vaccine, Recombinant] for the potential use in women aged 27 through 45.” So yes, they are intending on vaccinating groups other than “young women.” Likewise I have been told by Merck representatives that trials are going on to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of Gardasil in men. We’re not taking about some obscure vaccine that only a few people will be getting here.

3) For the record. Merck’s own 2007 earnings reports indicates that Merck is making tons of money on this product. “The Company’s cervical cancer vaccine, GARDASIL, posted total sales as recorded by Merck of $339 million for the fourth quarter and $1.5 billion for the year. As of the fourth quarter, GARDASIL has been approved in 93 countries, many under fast track or expedited review, with launches under way in 76 of those countries. The vaccine remains under review in approximately 40 other countries and territories.”

I don’t think it would take much work to show that Merck is in fact price gouging on this product. Your comments are correct with respect to most vaccines, but I don’t believe that they apply in this case. Gardasil certainly isn’t a “poor economic deal” for Merck. They are intending the product to be used in every human being in every country. Again, I’m not saying that Gardasil isn’t an important product, but that Merck is, in fact, price gouging us for it.

]]> By: Brian http://buzzdroid.com/sexuality/is-merck-price-gouging-with-gardasil-hpv-vaccine-the-most-expensive-vaccine-ever/#comment-3760 Brian Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:21:23 +0000 http://buzzdroid.com/sexuality/is-merck-price-gouging-with-gardasil-hpv-vaccine-the-most-expensive-vaccine-ever/#comment-3760 Vaccines are very poor economic deals for drug companies for several reasons. 1. Most vaccines are only administered once or one series per person. Compared with chronic drugs like cholesterol, pain, diabetes medications and more, where a patient will be paying for tablets every day for the rest of their lives, vaccines have a much smaller revenue pool. 2. Clinical research is very expensive. The average new drug costs several hundred million dollars to develop. If you're dividing that among billions of tablets, each can be inexpensive, but sales forecasts for gardasil are only for young females - there are perhaps a few tens of millions of total units to be sold, over many years. The price must be in the hundreds of dollars per unit just to break even on development costs. 3. Vaccine research is much more expensive than for most drugs. For many indications, clinical research is looking for a positive response in a short time period, i.e.: "the infection went away in three days", "the pain was reduced in 2 hours", etc. But for gardasil, every patient in the trial had to be followed for 5 years, just to see that they *didn't* get HPV. And the trial had to be large enough to have a large control group so that enough of the control patients did get HPV to show a statistically significant difference from the gardasil group. Vaccines are very poor economic deals for drug companies for several reasons.

1. Most vaccines are only administered once or one series per person. Compared with chronic drugs like cholesterol, pain, diabetes medications and more, where a patient will be paying for tablets every day for the rest of their lives, vaccines have a much smaller revenue pool.

2. Clinical research is very expensive. The average new drug costs several hundred million dollars to develop. If you’re dividing that among billions of tablets, each can be inexpensive, but sales forecasts for gardasil are only for young females - there are perhaps a few tens of millions of total units to be sold, over many years. The price must be in the hundreds of dollars per unit just to break even on development costs.

3. Vaccine research is much more expensive than for most drugs. For many indications, clinical research is looking for a positive response in a short time period, i.e.: “the infection went away in three days”, “the pain was reduced in 2 hours”, etc. But for gardasil, every patient in the trial had to be followed for 5 years, just to see that they *didn’t* get HPV. And the trial had to be large enough to have a large control group so that enough of the control patients did get HPV to show a statistically significant difference from the gardasil group.

]]> By: Valeria http://buzzdroid.com/sexuality/is-merck-price-gouging-with-gardasil-hpv-vaccine-the-most-expensive-vaccine-ever/#comment-3028 Valeria Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:58:29 +0000 http://buzzdroid.com/sexuality/is-merck-price-gouging-with-gardasil-hpv-vaccine-the-most-expensive-vaccine-ever/#comment-3028 What is a person without any health care insurance supposed to do? What is a person without any health care insurance supposed to do?

]]> By: bill http://buzzdroid.com/sexuality/is-merck-price-gouging-with-gardasil-hpv-vaccine-the-most-expensive-vaccine-ever/#comment-2916 bill Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:36:21 +0000 http://buzzdroid.com/sexuality/is-merck-price-gouging-with-gardasil-hpv-vaccine-the-most-expensive-vaccine-ever/#comment-2916 As a physician i am paying $120 /dose and getting reimbursed $121/dose.So you feel that your getting charged too much and we are getting reimbursed too little Can you see ordering 100 doses of this and getting little in return Yet private clinics etc charge so much more and when another breakthrough vaccine comes along the problem will only get worse I only hope that each state will create a universal vaccine program to provide all of these vaccines for free because not many businesses can buy a product for a penny and get 2 cents back As a physician i am paying $120 /dose and getting reimbursed $121/dose.So you feel that your getting charged too much and we are getting reimbursed too little
Can you see ordering 100 doses of this and getting little in return
Yet private clinics etc charge so much more
and when another breakthrough vaccine comes along the problem will only get worse
I only hope that each state will create a universal vaccine program to provide all of these vaccines for free because not many businesses can buy a product for a penny and get 2 cents back

]]> By: Nissa http://buzzdroid.com/sexuality/is-merck-price-gouging-with-gardasil-hpv-vaccine-the-most-expensive-vaccine-ever/#comment-2894 Nissa Wed, 09 Jan 2008 20:09:07 +0000 http://buzzdroid.com/sexuality/is-merck-price-gouging-with-gardasil-hpv-vaccine-the-most-expensive-vaccine-ever/#comment-2894 I am currently in a debacle with University of Colorado Hospital over the price of my Gardasil vaccine. I was charged $785.46 for the drug alone on my first visit. This does not even include the "clinic fee" (syringe, alcohol prep, and standing in the hallway). The next shot they charged me $360 for the drug, and $26.89 for the supplies to administer it. I am still awaiting the outrageous bill for the third shot. I am disappointed to say that I was never told this vaccine was going to cost me well over $1000. I actually researched it before I went in for the visit and was expecting to pay around $120-$150 per shot. I can only hope to advocate for public health agencies and not private institutions since they have no shame reaping the benefits of private paying parties. I am currently in a debacle with University of Colorado Hospital over the price of my Gardasil vaccine. I was charged $785.46 for the drug alone on my first visit. This does not even include the “clinic fee” (syringe, alcohol prep, and standing in the hallway). The next shot they charged me $360 for the drug, and $26.89 for the supplies to administer it. I am still awaiting the outrageous bill for the third shot. I am disappointed to say that I was never told this vaccine was going to cost me well over $1000. I actually researched it before I went in for the visit and was expecting to pay around $120-$150 per shot. I can only hope to advocate for public health agencies and not private institutions since they have no shame reaping the benefits of private paying parties.

]]> By: Chet http://buzzdroid.com/sexuality/is-merck-price-gouging-with-gardasil-hpv-vaccine-the-most-expensive-vaccine-ever/#comment-2760 Chet Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:45:14 +0000 http://buzzdroid.com/sexuality/is-merck-price-gouging-with-gardasil-hpv-vaccine-the-most-expensive-vaccine-ever/#comment-2760 [quote comment="2740"]I just talked to my doctor about Gardasil- he did not mention the price, only that it would be a good idea to get. But $500?!!! That is insane!!! Not everybody can afford a $500 vaccine. Does it cost hundreds of dollars to make 1 vaccine (3 doses per person)? That cost does not make it available to everyone especially when there are high living expenses and bills to pay. What do we do, set up a savings account so we can get this vaccine?[/quote] La Reina, If you have health insurance, call them and see if they cover the Gardasil vaccine. In my experience, most US health care providers are paying for it. My article wasn't intended to dissuade anybody from getting Gardasil (just the opposite, I hope). I wanted to raise issues about how much Merck and their stockholders were making on the backs of the public and our insurance providers, and to question the ethics of them pricing this product as they have. La Reina Arkseteyn said

I just talked to my doctor about Gardasil- he did not mention the price, only that it would be a good idea to get. But $500?!!! That is insane!!! Not everybody can afford a $500 vaccine. Does it cost hundreds of dollars to make 1 vaccine (3 doses per person)? That cost does not make it available to everyone especially when there are high living expenses and bills to pay. What do we do, set up a savings account so we can get this vaccine?

La Reina,

If you have health insurance, call them and see if they cover the Gardasil vaccine. In my experience, most US health care providers are paying for it.

My article wasn’t intended to dissuade anybody from getting Gardasil (just the opposite, I hope). I wanted to raise issues about how much Merck and their stockholders were making on the backs of the public and our insurance providers, and to question the ethics of them pricing this product as they have.

]]> By: La Reina Arkseteyn http://buzzdroid.com/sexuality/is-merck-price-gouging-with-gardasil-hpv-vaccine-the-most-expensive-vaccine-ever/#comment-2740 La Reina Arkseteyn Tue, 04 Dec 2007 20:35:45 +0000 http://buzzdroid.com/sexuality/is-merck-price-gouging-with-gardasil-hpv-vaccine-the-most-expensive-vaccine-ever/#comment-2740 I just talked to my doctor about Gardasil- he did not mention the price, only that it would be a good idea to get. But $500?!!! That is insane!!! Not everybody can afford a $500 vaccine. Does it cost hundreds of dollars to make 1 vaccine (3 doses per person)? That cost does not make it available to everyone especially when there are high living expenses and bills to pay. What do we do, set up a savings account so we can get this vaccine? I just talked to my doctor about Gardasil- he did not mention the price, only that it would be a good idea to get. But $500?!!! That is insane!!! Not everybody can afford a $500 vaccine. Does it cost hundreds of dollars to make 1 vaccine (3 doses per person)? That cost does not make it available to everyone especially when there are high living expenses and bills to pay. What do we do, set up a savings account so we can get this vaccine?

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