Thursday, August 16, 2012

Skin Care Medication Prices Spike Domestically, but Not Abroad

A recent New York Times article highlights the dramatically rising prices of prescription skin care products in the United States. When it comes to skin care, popular generic creams, ointments, and lotions are getting far more expensive – take a look at the chart below:

60-gram tube

30-gram tube

45-gram tube

118-mil. bottle

Permethrin

cream

Triamcinolone

acetonide

cream

Betamethasone

dipropionate

cream

Desonide

lotion

DRUG

$71

$29

$8

$4

$71

$18

$216

$50

Current

price

'08

price

Source: The New York Times; Truven Health Analytics Red Book

As prices climb domestically, they remain stable and comparatively low abroad. While most generic medicines are often cheaper in the U.S. than in other countries, some popular skin care products are exceptions. Examples are shown below:

Drug U.S. Bricks-and-Mortar PharmacyU.S. Online Pharmacy Price Lowest PharmacyChecker.com Listed PriceSavings Percent Savings
Betamethasone Diproprionate Cream (45g) $96.87 $60.00$30.23 (50g) $29.7749.62%
Desonide Lotion (118ml) $195.99 $158.00$70.81 $87.1955.18%
Fluorouracil Cream 5% (40g) $250.00 $248.00$37.99 $210.0184.68%
Nystatin and Triamcinolone Cream (30g) $67.98 $93.00$16.27 $76.7382.51%
Permethrin Cream 5% (60g) $64.99 $63.00$28.24 $34.7655.17%

Bricks and Mortar Pharmacy Located in New York City. U.S. Online Pharmacy Price taken from Healthwarehouse.com. Prices collected 8/15/2012

We found that the average savings by using an international online pharmacy were over 70% when compared to U.S.-based bricks-and-mortar and online pharmacies


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