What is the most expensive pharmaceutical drug in the United States?
Our debate started in my class today, but nobody came up with an
answer. So I decided to put my 5 bucks on Google Answers instead of
going to Starbucks ;-)

(We found one drug which is $210 for 30 pills, but there must be more
expensive ones.)

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 17 Mar 2005 19:34 PST

An awfully good (bad?) candidate would have to be Human Growth Hormone
injections, which go by the trade name Humatrope:


http://www.walgreens.com/library/finddrug/druginfo1.jhtml?id=17082

HUMATROPE 24MG INJECTION $1,330.09  


Yep.  That's $1.330.09 for a single injection!!!!

Anyone finds a drug that's more expensive, and I'll eat my shorts.

Let me know if you think this is it.


pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by benni_ger-ga on 18 Mar 2005 12:34 PST

I think these were some pretty cool answers & comments. The $24k beats
the $1k. Wow. Were can I give this answer a good rating?

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Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 18 Mar 2005 12:55 PST

This article says that a drug called Norvir used to treat HIV can cost
as much as $45,000 a year!

ACT UP
'ABBOTT GREED RAISED PRICES OF MEDICATION 400%'
http://www.actupny.org/reports/abbottgreed.html

On the other hand, this article says that a drug called Enbrel can
cost as much as $20,000 - get this - PER DOSE !!!

LOUISIANA TECHNOLOGY GUIDE
http://www.latechnologyguide.com/news01.php

Finally, this article says that a drug called Cerezyme is the world's
highest-priced drug, costing about $175,000 per year per patient. I
don't know what that works out to per dose but it is obviouosly quite
expensive.

MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY STOCK LETTER
http://www.bioinvest.com/backissues/issue452.html


tutuzdad-ga

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 18 Mar 2005 14:23 PST

Thanks for offering to give *someone* a good rating.  My vote goes to
tutuzdad-ga, since he provided not only the highest-priced drug, but
also gave you a few options to choose from.

Once a formal answer is posted, you can then rate-away.


paf

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Clarification of Question by benni_ger-ga on 18 Mar 2005 16:17 PST

come on ... let me rate the formal answer. I feel bad anyway for just
bidding $5 on it and you invested so much time.

You answered the question perfectly. The commenters added great
comments and gave additional inputs. And you did great in leading the
discussion and let everyone participate.

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Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 18 Mar 2005 16:29 PST

Could you specify which answer you are happiest with? With several of
us offering input it's hard to know which one of us you are talking
about unless you specify.

tutuzdad-ga

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Clarification of Question by benni_ger-ga on 19 Mar 2005 09:56 PST

I'd say tutuzdad-ga found the most expensive one with $175k a year. 
Enjoy.

Dear Benni_ger-ga:

I'm reposting this here at your invitation in order to officially
close your question:

This article says that a drug called Norvir used to treat HIV can cost
as much as $45,000 a year!

ACT UP
'ABBOTT GREED RAISED PRICES OF MEDICATION 400%'
http://www.actupny.org/reports/abbottgreed.html

On the other hand, this article says that a drug called Enbrel can
cost as much as $20,000 - get this - PER DOSE !!!

LOUISIANA TECHNOLOGY GUIDE
http://www.latechnologyguide.com/news01.php

Finally, this article says that a drug called Cerezyme is the world's
highest-priced drug, costing about $175,000 per year per patient. I
don't know what that works out to per dose but it is obviouosly quite
expensive.

MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY STOCK LETTER
http://www.bioinvest.com/backissues/issue452.html

Thank you for beinging your question to us. I look forward to next time.

tutuzdad-ga

SEARCH TERMS:

EXPENSIVE

COSTLY

HIGHEST PRICED

MEDICATION

PILLS

TABLETS

INJECTION

TREATMENT

The cost of lymphoma treatment is also a 'killer':

"Medicare officials said cost was the program's primary concern in
reviewing its reimbursement policy for two of the drugs being studied
-- Bexxar from GlaxoSmithKline and Zevalin from Biogen Idec. The drugs
are approved as a third-line treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a
form of cancer that begins in the lymph system, after other treatments
have failed. But they are sometimes administered as a first line of
attack, a use that is not approved. The medications cost $22,210 for a
single dose, which constitutes a full course of treatment, according
to spokeswomen for both companies."
http://www.lymphomation.org/CMS-letter-off-label-use.htm

"At $17,000 a month, Erbitux is one of the most expensive cancer drugs
ever made. For the record, it is not the most expensive. That
distinction is currently held by Zevalin, a $24,000-a-month treatment
for a relatively rare type of lymphoma."
http://slate.msn.com/id/2102844/

Looks like there is some shorts coming your way.

I don't know the medical name of the drug, but when a family member
was in the hospital for a spinal cord injury, she had an IV drip bag
that cost $1,500 per dose.