what the what...

[Sunshine]

Is going onnnnnnn!!!!!????? Blargety. K. I feel better. I take phenobarbitol for seizure disorder and wall of green's price just jumped from 13 bucks to 30. What the effin what.

[Der Cute]

That's such an old drug there might be a way to get it @ the $4 price. It's REALLY old.

[Sunshine]

I know...thats why im freaked...its..just stupidly jacked up in price.

[trailerparkmedic]

Or it's so old that it's not profitable enough for some companies to make, so they quit manufacturing it and the remaining companies can jack up the price because of decreased competition. There are some serious problems in hospitals with drug shortages and it's almost always boring, old generics like vicodin or nausea medicine.

[Der Cute]

Can you check around? And...vets. Phenobarbital is for dogs w/ seizures. Is it cheaper at a vet or a pharmacy. Shalom? Help?

[radiocerk]

I know some strengths of Phenobarbital have been hard to get at my pharmacy. Might be some manufacturers discontinuing production.

[bacchinalus]

Some strengths of that medication have been on back order for a while (I was told due to discontinuing them) but I don't see how that would affect the price of the remaining pills. Most pharmacies would rather have you switch to something they can still get from a supplier so they can continue to charge you and supply you wih what you need, instead of forcing you to go someplace else in search of your meds.

[TheSHAD0W]

Sunshine, what dosage are you taking?

[Shalom]

Looks like they've jacked the price up. Basically what happened is that West-Ward has quit making 1000-tablet bottles, and is now charging for the 500 tablet size more than they used to charge for the thousands. (Was $79/1000 for the 60mg strength, which is the only one I can find the old price on, now they're $120/500.) This pisses me off, as p-barb has been on the market since the 1890s and there's no excuse for this other than greed.

Qualitest still has the 1000s at lower price, but there's a hitch: West-Ward labeled their tablets as 15mg, 30mg, 60mg and 100mg, while Qualitest labels theirs in the old apothecary's system as 1/4 grain, 1/2 grain, 1 grain and 1.5 grain, which converts to 16.2mg, 32.4mg, 64.8mg and 97.2mg respectively. If your script is written as "30mg", you're stuck with the West-Ward and their higher price. You might try asking your pharmacist if there's a price differential between the two brands. (QLT's 64.8mg is about $149/1000, my cost, with a rebate that brings it down a bit more: can't disclose that amount in public.)

Of course, the Green Wall may be simply buying the Qualitest and still charging you the higher price. It would be like them. I found working for the chains that acquisition cost and sale price often had little or noting to do with each other. Try an independent pharmacy if you can find one; they're more likely to help you out with pricing, if they're honest. If you need to know the actual cost of something, PM me and I can look it up, with the caveat that the chains are certainly paying much less than I am due to volume purchasing: they're much less likely to negotiate price than a mom-and-pop place, though.)

[Sunshine]

Shadow...32.4 3 times a day..
Shalom.....thank you! We have an independent pharm here in town...i'm going to call them asap

[Shalom]

Just found the old invoice. I paid $48.95 for 1000 of Qualitest 32.4 as of April 24 of this year. Current price is $114.74.

Bastards.