Paramount Rx is a free online service that rapidly lists the prices of any medication you want, using all of the pharmacies in a given range of your zip code. It is a truly astonishing asset to anyone taking medications.
Atorvastatin (Lipitor) is one of the most commonly prescribed cholesterol drugs on the market. When I used Paramount Rx to search for how much it costs in the pharmacies around me, the prices varied from $17 to $178, for 90 pills. This is an enormous difference. Another medication called Cialis (used for erectile dysfunction) cost $2,268.96 in several of my nearby major pharmacies and only $68.36 at several others, again for 90 pills.
This is just one example of how we can advocate for ourselves to prevent getting ripped off. We must not lose sight of the fact that pharmacies are usually private for profit companies. It seems counterintuitive but we are consumers. So, just like anything else we buy, we need to pay attention to how much we are being charge and advocate for ourselves.
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Justin Groode MD | Patient Advocate Alliance, LLC
