Slump Pushing Cost of Drugs Out of Reach
by Kevin Sack
New York Times
June 3, 2009
Rocky Mount, NC: A year or so ago, when customers buttonholed the pharmacists at Almand's Drug Store here, the questions were invariably about dosing or side effects. These days, they are almost always about cost... "I'm out of Lexapro," a woman pleaded one recent Tuesday, speaking of her antidepressant. "Can I just have four pills until payday on Friday?"Some customers request prices for a fistful of prescriptions, and then say they can fill only the cheapest two. Others ask which are most important....
...National surveys consistently find that as many as a third of respondents say they are not complying with prescriptions because of cost, up from about a fourth three years ago...