For 12 years, we have served an uninsured bilingual community in Tennessee. We are Family Medicine Obstetrics, seeing 40,000+ visits a year with over 25% children. We are a private practice, and Medicaid will not reimburse vaccine costs when shortages and other circumstances make vaccine unavailable for our patients.
We have shopped for the best prices.------ IM polio $24; HIB $26; DTaP $22;Hep B ped $16; pentacel(DTaP, HIB, polio) $75; rotavirus $95; gardasil $127;Hep A peds $27; varicella $80; prevnar-pneumonia7 $70. These prices are artificially inflated by vendors lobbying of legislators. Over 60% of the market is under control of the state through its Vaccines for Children program.
One state actually made Gardasil a mandatory vaccine until scientific evidence pointed out the marketing misleadingly had promised "vaccination against cancer". Not true. Government regulations have created a near monopoly making it very difficult for private practices to complete against the "free services" offered by the state. However state services are notoriously unpredictable.
The lack of transparency inflates prices beyond a fair profit margin for manufacturers. Competition by shopping globally is discouraged through regulations claiming to preserve quality. Politically, any questioning tosses you into the basket with the Luddites and other antivaccine nihilists. But, it is clear that the same identical vaccine frequently costs 50% less when you buy it outside of the USA. Journalists will not face this challenge in Tennessee.
WM Rodney MD
IN RESPONSE TO THE FOLLOWING POST FROM UNICEF MAY 30, 2011:
In a bid to increase competitiveness among companies supplying it with vaccines, UNICEF has announced that it will be publicly displaying prices of the vaccines that it purchases from pharmaceutical companies in order to make the deals more transparent.
The organization revealed that it had spent more than $750 million last year on purchasing vaccines and providing over 2.5 billion doses to over 99 countries. However rising costs means that UNICEF is now hoping for price competitiveness among various pharmaceutical companies who will know the exact price for which UNICEF has made deals with rival companies.
UNICEF added that it will be publishing the prices of any future vaccine deals though some of the pharmaceutical giants such as Novartis and Merck have both declined the offer to publish their prices.
“Transparency is a core principle in itself and will support governments and partners in making more informed decisions. Transparency will also help foster a competitive, diverse supplier base for global public goods”, UNICEF’s Director of Supply Division, Shanelle Hall said.
Read more: UNICEF Moves to Make Vaccine Acquisition Process More Transparent http://www.medindia.net/news/UNICEF-Moves-to-Make-Vaccine-Acquisition-Process-More-Transparent-85680-1.htm#ixzz1Nsh78WKa
Index--vaccines, cost too high
Wake up United States... We are paying for the world's medications through a WHO treaty called, "TRIP" where the US is encouraged to make other countries with cheaper meds look inferior to US citizens. This treaty was manipulated not to protect intellectual property rights, but to protect pricing for drugs as well. It's time to fight back!
Posted by: Frustrated Pharmacist | May 31, 2011 at 06:38 PM