PHOTOS BY DANIEL LI PPITT
Fair Drug Prices
Independent retail pharmacies are fighting to get the same drug discounts
as hospitals, HMOs and mail orders do. Their survival depends on it.
JULIE EDGAR STAFF WRITER
R
ose Ainbinder can't take all the out prescription coverage, according to
medications that have been pre- the National Association of Chain Drug
scribed for her heart condition. Stores.
And they both take heart in a proposed
They're just too expensive.
Her friend, Ruth Lieberman, is lucky law that would force drug manufactur-
ers to offer the same discounts to inde-
that she's in better health. She takes few-
pendent and chain pharmacies as they
er than a dozen pills each day.
Both women, residents of the Trow- do to hospitals, health maintenance or-
bridge apartments in Southfield, worry ganizations and mail-order pharmacies.
"It's wonderful," Ms. Ainbinder said.
a lot about keeping up with the rising
"When they make medicine, why does
cost of medicines.
the government allow them to
"One pill is $180 for 30," Ms.
raise (prices) all they want? I
Ainbinder says. "All my mon-
Pharmacist Barry
don't understand."
ey goes into medicine."
Sternberg is one of
But whether they or their
"It scares you, such high
the last small
prices," Ms. Lieberman echoed. independent druggists peers would benefit from those
"If you say anything to a phar- in his neighborhood. discounts is a question mark.
At a recent press conference
macist, he says, We're keeping
held
at Trowbridge, Larry Wa-
you healthy.' "
Neither of the women has insurance genknecht of the Lansing-based Michi-
gan Pharmacists Association said it is
coverage for medication, but for Ms.
Lieberman, the cost hovers between $45 uncertain whether a new law would re-
sult in a cost savings for the customer.
and $80 per month.
Drug prices, he said, rose between 15 and
Ms. Ainbinder said she didn't even
want to think about the cost of the 12 18 percent yearly in the late 1980s and
early 1990s. Pharmacists are running to
to 14 medicines she should take every
keep
up with the increases at the same
day.
time their profit margins are narrowing,
Both women are among half of the
state's 1.2 million senior citizens with- he said.
The Fairness In Drug Manufacturer
Pricing Act would result in a 12-percent
cost drop for chain and independent
pharmacies, according to the bill's spon-
sor, Rep. Beverly Hammersizom, R-Tem-
perance. Providing they met conditions
like timely payment to the drugmaker
and the ability to accept delivery at one
site, independent pharmacies would be
entitled to the same discounts as their
larger counterparts. Drug manufactur-
ers would not be able to deny discounts
to pharmacies that don't buy in large vol-
umes, either.
A Michigan-based drug manufactur-
er calls the legislation an "attempt to dis-
rupt the free market process."
In a prepared statement, Pharmacia
& Upjohn Inc. of Kalamazoo defended
the two-tiered pricing structure as an
"appropriate" means of keeping down its
costs. The discounts are based on volume
purchases, cash payment, single-site de-
livery, prompt payment and use of for-
mularies, the drug giant said.
The proposed law would "single out
prescription drugs for discriminatory
treatment" and fails to account for the
DRUG PRICES page 46