Does your doctor actually know how much Fosamax costs?
A recent study published in the American Journal of Managed Care (November 2006) revealed that physicians and patients rarely talk about how much prescription medicines will cost.
When prescribing a new drug, doctors discussed the subject of medication costs and insurance only one time out of eight. Patients were even less likely to bring up the subject. They asked about price less than 2 percent of the time.
The trouble is that when patients get to the pharmacy and discover how much their medicine will cost, they often experience sticker shock. Some just turn around and walk out the door without even filling the prescription. Others ask the pharmacist to come to their rescue.
Pharmacists spend hours on the telephone with doctors' offices negotiating about drugs not covered by the patient's insurance. Since physicians may not realize how expensive their prescriptions can be, the pharmacist is frequently the one who breaks the bad news.
The consequence is what doctors refer to as noncompliance. This means patients don't take their medicine. Although noncompliance implies a patient who is being uncooperative, often it's a matter of financial survival. (Read More)
