FDA Approving Drugs at Breakneck Speed, Raising Alarm

Re:FDA Approving Drugs at Breakneck Speed, Raising Alarm by ensignavenger on Sunday December 08, 2019 @09:56AM (#21736137)

Some patients have a lot of pills to take, and they would rather pay more to take fewer. Maybe they have trouble keeping track of them, maybe it is just pill fatigue. Maybe they have trouble swallowing for one reason or another. Combo pills could be a good thing for a subset of the population. Sure, it requires doctors to be on top of their game and patients to research what they are taking and ask questions, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good idea to have it available as an alternative.

As to the question about why it is taking so long at the FDA, I imagine it isn't a very high priority because there are alternatives.

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Re:FDA Approving Drugs at Breakneck Speed, Raising Alarm by refurb on Sunday December 08, 2019 @12:12PM (#21736895)

I don’t disagree that pill burden can be an issue.

The problem is the lack of transparency into cost which results in some drug companies taking advantage.

Combine two pills that cost $0.10 each into one pill that costs $0.15? Reasonable.

Do the same and charge $5 per pill? Ridiculous. Problem is doctors and patients don’t know it costs $5 and insurers can’t be bothered to push back. Suddenly you’ve increased the cost of therapy by 50x.

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