But the R&D and especially the expense of getting a drug FDA approved is quite costly. High FDA standards is a double edged sword along with copyright laws, helps protect us and makes it financially sensible to develop new drugs, but also makes new drugs unaffordable for a lot of people.
Things that are ridiculously expensive considering the labor and materials involved......
- Thread starter gollumcat
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I am well aware of the costs of R%D, etc but the length of time that they are allowed to recover their costs with exorbitant prices is crazy. Being able to charge $400 mo (quite common) for meds that cost maybe $10 to produce, and jack up the prices however much they choose every year for twenty years, is crazy.
You're only factoring in the drugs that actually make it to market. A lot of R&D money spent on drugs that never make it to market
I'm not a strip club guy by any real measure, but I go about once every few years for various bachelor parties. Prices seem to have gone down. I recall paying $20 when I was 18, and I went last year for my brother's BP and it was $10.
When you get older, your Dr. will bring you in every 6 months or so for a "follow up". They will weigh you, check your BP, pulse and temperature. Might even take some blood. He will listen to your heart and lungs, talk baseball, ask you how you've been, ask you if you need any refills on any prescriptions, then send you on your way after about a 10 minute visit. Then you pay a $71 fee as you leave that goes toward your deductible.
If your insurance will pay they'll try to get you back in 3 months to "check your blood work." Work in a specialist or two from their network if they can.
Absolutely right. I once told my Dr. who liked to send me to a gastroenterologist in their network that it would be easier, save me some time and gas money if I just sent them a check. He laughed and hasn't brought it up since.
One of the MRI's I had in the past came to about $200 a minute while I was in it. Multiply that by 15 minutes and you get a $3,000 bill. Thank God the insurance paid for I believe about 80% of it. Bet that machine got paid off pretty darn quick with those prices.
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I live in San Diego, where they're grown, and they've gone up to about $2 each at the chain grocery stores here too.
Yes, you can buy them directly at roadside stands for less, but 10 for $1 isn't happening this year. The price has gone up a lot in recent months.
My last colonoscopy cost $8000 a couple years ago. Not open heart surgery - a colonoscopy! In the followup visit I was looking at a chart on the wall of the bowel system and asked the doctor how far he had probed and he showed me a point.about a foot away from the end. I asked why he stopped there. He said, "You have a long colon and I didn't have my extension with me (I was quite surprised he would admit something like that). But we can set you up for another one if you'd like and check the rest of it." 
No "my bad" or anything. No thanks. I then mentioned that I had been a little constipated after the procedure. "Irritable Bowel Syndrome" was his instant diagnosis.. "We can get started treating you for that right away." I told him I had never had any problems with that before. "You do now" he said. Tried to get me to set up another appointment. I walked out and never went back. Never had another problem with my bowels. He tried to charge me $80 to tell me I had hemorrhoids - something I had only known for about 50 years. I refused to pay it. The most obvious money-grubbing doctor (and probable quack) I ever encountered I was with Banner Health at the time and they kept you in an endless loop of specialists within their network.
No "my bad" or anything. No thanks. I then mentioned that I had been a little constipated after the procedure. "Irritable Bowel Syndrome" was his instant diagnosis.. "We can get started treating you for that right away." I told him I had never had any problems with that before. "You do now" he said. Tried to get me to set up another appointment. I walked out and never went back. Never had another problem with my bowels. He tried to charge me $80 to tell me I had hemorrhoids - something I had only known for about 50 years. I refused to pay it. The most obvious money-grubbing doctor (and probable quack) I ever encountered I was with Banner Health at the time and they kept you in an endless loop of specialists within their network.
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it sucks. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy except someone like Hillary or Obama.
Any major brand athletic shoes...think Nike cost for 200$ shoes is about 5-7$ complete. Slave labor in communist country.
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I may have my economics backwards, but supply and demand. Not as much demand with tons of free online p0rn, but plenty of supply because lots of gals are still trying to work their way through college.
I've been using a safety razor for the last 10 years or so - blades are about 10 cents each and I get a cleaner shave than with any commercial blade I've ever tried.
It takes a couple of weeks to adapt to it but once I did, I'll never use anything else.
Hold on. You get INFINITY refills. You can drink cup after cup of tea until they close...for $2.19. That's actually one of the best deals you can get anywhere. One of the places I work charges $3.50. So don't bring your empty wallet this way bub.
engagement rings and the debeers company are the worst thing to ever happen to mankind. since when is a husband's love for his wife measured by the jewelry he proposes to her with? since the debeers company and stupid "diamonds are forever" ad, that's when.
woohoo! nice to have another local cat. You going to the july picnic thingie at Dana point?
Good pick. It is pretty sad that buying ink for your printer a couple times or even once is damn near as much as the printer itself cost. You might as well just buy a new printer every time your ink runs out. Unfortunately they tend to just give you a sample of ink when you buy them to force you to purchase more ink right away.
Is there any other device that has such a huge cost to operate it compared to the actual cost of buying the device? Here's an example.
$29.99 at Best Buy.
$31.99 at Best Buy
In this case it costs more to actually buy the ink the first time than the printer. So why is ink so expensive? Does it come from the blood of an endangered animal? [laughing]
Good pick. It is pretty sad that buying ink for your printer a couple times or even once is damn near as much as the printer itself cost. You might as well just buy a new printer every time your ink runs out. Unfortunately they tend to just give you a sample of ink when you buy them to force you to purchase more ink right away.
Is there any other device that has such a huge cost to operate it compared to the actual cost of buying the device? Here's an example.
$29.99 at Best Buy.
$31.99 at Best Buy
In this case it costs more to actually buy the ink the first time than the printer. So why is ink so expensive? Does it come from the blood of an endangered animal? [laughing]
That's just the business model - printers are low margin at best and a loss leader at worst, but they make it up big time on the back end.
What're you all printing? I maybe print something 1 time a year. Don't think I've owned a printer since college.
Women's undergarments.
My wife pays more for one bra than I do for a year or two worth of undies.
My wife pays more for one bra than I do for a year or two worth of undies.
Good pick. It is pretty sad that buying ink for your printer a couple times or even once is damn near as much as the printer itself cost. You might as well just buy a new printer every time your ink runs out. Unfortunately they tend to just give you a sample of ink when you buy them to force you to purchase more ink right away.
Is there any other device that has such a huge cost to operate it compared to the actual cost of buying the device? Here's an example.
$29.99 at Best Buy.
$31.99 at Best Buy
In this case it costs more to actually buy the ink the first time than the printer. So why is ink so expensive? Does it come from the blood of an endangered animal? [laughing]
children my friend. they are free to make, and before you know it, literally everything you own belongs to them.
How many trips to the emergency room for stitches did it take?
I remember in the house I grew up that the medicine cabinet had a slit in the back to put used safety razor blades in.
I never cut myself bad - first week or so I'd have 6-10 spots where I had shaved skin off, 2nd week it started to toughen up, no trouble since. Those little effers are sharp though. Also, you can't bring them on a plane, so I end up having to buy new blades when I travel.