*Not* taking statins

[Archman]

The NEXLETOL & NEXLIZET Co-Pay Card Program can help your eligible patients pay as little as $10 per fill for up to a 3-month supply of their prescription.* Your patients can assess their eligibility and enroll for a Co-Pay Card online at NexCopay.com. They can also call 1-855-699-8814 (8:00AM-8:00PM ET, Monday-Friday, excluding holidays) for questions or to enroll.

Pretty much all of the expensive new drugs have these programs, and pretty much nobody qualifies. These programs are set up so the sellers have something "good" to say when someone notices they are price gouging.

This drug will almost certainly cost people who read this forum more than $4,000 per year, either directly (thinking HDHI) or indirectly (through higher premiums). In fact, all of us who pay HI premiums are paying for drugs like this through HI premiums.

The cost of Nexletol at my Medicare Advantage plan at $100 per 30 day prescription.

 

[Time2]

Interesting new study finds a high "nocebo effect" with statins. Nocebo is when you report the side effects yet are on the placebo in a study.

https://www.upi.com/Health_News/202...ll-in-your-head-study-suggests/5121605832204/

My nocebo is so good that my wife can feel the tight muscle running down my thigh or my calf. It did help when I started Qunol CoQ10 and magnesium, but it was years before I tried that. Also had many late night early morning jump out of bed and wonder the house for 10 minutes trying to get rid of a leg cramp.
I might add, my spasms may not be from statins, my mother had severe leg cramps and she was not on a statin.

 

[Freedom56]

I don't disagree, but I think these things tend to go in cycles. At one time extreme corpulence was considered healthy and a sign of prosperity.

But even today it's being learned that once you get to your 70s, being slightly overweight and having higher cholesterol are protective and tend to lead to a longer lifespan.

There is slightly overweight and there is what we see in society today. We are at a point of dangerous extremes. We see more and more Jabba the Hutt clones on mobility scooters in supermarkets and club stores. It's not by accident that COVID-19 has had such a devastating impact in this country versus many other developed nations. With modern medicine, doctors can manage overweight patients with blood pressure medication, statins, knee and hip replacements, to the point where they have closed the gap on healthy normal weight people in terms of life expectancy. However, healthy responsible people have to support an increasingly unhealthy population with increased health insurance premiums. Is that fair? Is it fair that my wife and I have to pay $13,400 per year increasing to $15,678 a year in 2021 for high deductible health insurance that we use for one visit per year for an annual physical? If insurance companies can charge smokers more for life insurance, why can't they charge more smokers and the portly members of society more for health insurance?

 

[sengsational]

The cost of Nexletol at my Medicare Advantage plan at $100 per 30 day prescription.

That's a good data point. Thanks for that. The $100 would be the cost you pay directly for the prescription, I suspect? Then you (and every other participant in your plan) pays premiums. The payment to the drug maker is probably secret, but is probably closer to $350 than $100. All of this should be transparent, too bad it's not.

 

[youbet]

Is it fair that my wife and I have to pay $13,400 per year increasing to $15,678 a year in 2021 for high deductible health insurance that we use for one visit per year for an annual physical?

Just curious, since you know your only covered medical expense for the year will be annual physicals for you and DW (cheap), why do you plan to pay $15,678 for a high deductible health insurance plan? If you were forced to carry health insurance, that would be unfair. But you're not. You buy it voluntarily.

 

[Freedom56]

Just curious, since you know your only covered medical expense for the year will be annual physicals for you and DW (cheap), why do you plan to pay $15,678 for a high deductible health insurance plan? If you were forced to carry health insurance, that would be unfair. But you're not. You buy it voluntarily.

We are buying access to the UCLA health system and are effectively buying catastrophic coverage. There are only two insurers in the individual market that has UCLA as a provider where we live. The other option would be to buy coverage through my employer retirement plan which would cost us $28,674 in 2021 through Aetna. There is a huge difference between insurance contracted rates and billed rates which an uninsured person would pay. A single night in a private room (not intensive care or critical care) at Ronald Reagan UCLA can run $24K billed or $5K insurance contract rate. There are lower cost health options but they would still cost about $11K annually for both of us for a bronze HMO but we would be stuck in a health system with substandard care. If you are faced with a serious medical issue, you want to be in a system with the best possible care that money can buy. I though about self insuring as we do with dental care but unexpected dental expenses are significantly lower than taking than unexpected medical expenses that require hospitalization. My wife was an O/R Surgical Nurse (still licensed) and she has seen first hand that not all hospital systems are created equal and neither are doctors.

 

[Archman]

That's a good data point. Thanks for that. The $100 would be the cost you pay directly for the prescription, I suspect? Then you (and every other participant in your plan) pays premiums. The payment to the drug maker is probably secret, but is probably closer to $350 than $100. All of this should be transparent, too bad it's not.

Yes, that is what I would pay, the $100. Luckily, I don't. I pay $0 for Atorvastatin (generic Lipitor).

 

[sengsational]

They talked about bempedoic acid in the Attia podcast, but I'd never heard of it before. This is a newly approved (2020) drug, no generic available, and it's $350 for 30 (in the US), according to GoodRx. Doesn't appear on "Canadian" drug seller web sites. Not sure how to see the price of it in the EU, Australia, India, etc, but I'm sure it's cheaper.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bempedoic_acid

Here's another alternative prescription price site: https://www.therxmarketplace.com

It shows NEXLIZET (BRAND) BEMPEDOIC ACID/EZETIMIBE at $334 for those with a membership card. This site is for members of the Sedera Medical Cost Sharing organization, but you can see prices without logging in.

 

[Happyras]

Here's another alternative prescription price site: https://www.therxmarketplace.com

It shows NEXLIZET (BRAND) BEMPEDOIC ACID/EZETIMIBE at $334 for those with a membership card. This site is for members of the Sedera Medical Cost Sharing organization, but you can see prices without logging in.

Costco is the same with GoodRx coupon, free from web site.

 

[Surewhitey]

My experience is that weight loss was a big factor in my #s. Generic Lipitor definitely helps the LDLs though. Doc did take me off one of the BP meds after weight loss.

 

[cooch96]

Based on information shared by some of the posters in this thread, I insisted on getting a Calcium Score prior to taking statins. The doctor poo-pooed the notion but eventually obliged. Long story short is despite a LDL rating of 201, my Calcium score is 0. Yay!

Added benefit (I'm staying positive here): The Calcium Score/CT Scan found a plum-sized mass next to my heart, pushing against my esophagus. Which might totally explain my persistent cough, which is what motivated me to seek medical attention in the first place! I'm scheduled for a confirmation MRI on Monday.

 

[audreyh1]

Wow!

 

[BoodaGazelle]

Re: statins

Having basically healthy people take a drug daily for the rest of their lives sounds like a very nice consistent source of income to me.

When the push started, they were not as cheap. But anything that can be used to generate a constant income stream (like cable, HULU, etc) is somehow always pushed heavily.

 

[wallygator69]

Howdy,



Same here. Never taken a Statin. Both wife and I started taking Cholestoff about 10 years ago. It boosted my Good cholesterol so Dr isn't worried about total Cholesterol. About 3 years ago I started doing Spin class 4 times a week. I burn 1000 Calories in an hour and kill myself. This helped lower my total Cholesterol.


Try Cholestoff it really works.


Good Luck,


Wally

 

[jam12]

No statins here, and take no calcium -- get it in my vegetables and some small amounts of cheese. Magnesium is my big winner, and many are deficient in magnesium.....

My great doc yrs back started checking homocysteine and it was elevated so have worked to lower that number...

I don't believe cholesterol is the big boogey man....

 

[calnomore]

I know several people that are on statins.
They always tell me that their bloodwork looks great.
They have terrible diets and are overweight.
They don't seem to care as long as the numbers are good.
This seems odd to me.

 

[bmcgonig]

I know several people that are on statins.
They always tell me that their bloodwork looks great.
They have terrible diets and are overweight.
They don't seem to care as long as the numbers are good.
This seems odd to me.

My cousin is that way. CAC score exceeds 1200. Doctor told him not to worry that the statins will "solve his problem" (I totally agree he should be on them) but as far as I could gather didn't tell him to watch his diet or lose weight. He's very overweight. Saw him eat two portions of dessert the other evening. He seems oblivious.

 

[braumeister]

Doctor told him not to worry that the statins will "solve his problem"

As Bill Clinton might say, it depends on what the meaning of "his" is.

It should certainly solve the doctor's problem of ensuring a steady income.








Please don't anyone take offense; I'm just (mostly) kidding. In fact, I find it surprising that a doctor would take such an approach.

 

[Buckeye]

My cousin is that way. CAC score exceeds 1200. Doctor told him not to worry that the statins will "solve his problem" (I totally agree he should be on them) but as far as I could gather didn't tell him to watch his diet or lose weight. He's very overweight. Saw him eat two portions of dessert the other evening. He seems oblivious.

Wonder if this is actually what the doctor is telling your cousin or if this is what your cousin is hearing and then telling you. Or maybe your cousin is straight out lying about what the doctor told him. Why would your cousin admit that his doctor told him to lose weight or change his diet? He'd then look like a fool continuing to eat an awful diet and not working to lose weight.

 

[youbet]

When the push started, they were not as cheap. But anything that can be used to generate a constant income stream (like cable, HULU, etc) is somehow always pushed heavily.

If they are looking for a constant income stream these days, they'd be pushing the quack recommended, snake oil supplements like Cholestoff. Far more expensive (and much higher profit margins) than atorvastatin, not covered by insurance and of no particular use.

I'm not saying there aren't some MD's / DO's recommending statins inappropriately. But I do believe that this theory that there is a wide spread conspiracy to prescribe statins in high dosage to everyone across the board to generate cash flow is highly overstated. Statins are a very cheap generic and supplements are expensive profit makers. Follow the money.

 

[bmcgonig]

Just because you would lie about this doesn't mean we all would
[emoji1]

Wonder if this is actually what the doctor is telling your cousin or if this is what your cousin is hearing and then telling you. Or maybe your cousin is straight out lying about what the doctor told him. Why would your cousin admit that his doctor told him to lose weight or change his diet? He'd then look like a fool continuing to eat an awful diet and not working to lose weight.

 

[jam12]

I know several people that are on statins.
They always tell me that their bloodwork looks great.
They have terrible diets and are overweight.
They don't seem to care as long as the numbers are good.
This seems odd to me.

I totally agree, so many live by the lab numbers and docs convince so many of that of course, we are not numbers, we are symptoms.....I've been around the block too long on all this.

 

[youbet]

It should certainly solve the doctor's problem of ensuring a steady income.


Please don't anyone take offense;.

I'm not offended, but I am curious. I keep trying to see how prescribing a cheap generic solves a doc's problem of ensuring a steady income. Help me, will ya? How does cash get to doc's pocket from this?

 

[braumeister]

I was referring to the fact that with the apparent metabolic syndrome he's developing he will be a regular visitor to the doctor far into the future (if he makes it that long).

 

[youbet]

I was referring to the fact that with the apparent metabolic syndrome he's developing he will be a regular visitor to the doctor far into the future (if he makes it that long).

OK. I misinterpreted your post as implying the doc's "steady income" was going to be derived from prescribing a statin when in fact you meant it would be from repeated office visits.