By Greggory Rendine (Duquesne) and Grace Havens (Pitt), PharmD Candidates 2023 — ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) inhibitors and ARBs (angiotensin receptor blockers) are prescription medications commonly used for lowering blood pressure. Common ACE inhibitors include lisinopril, enalapril, and quinapril. Common ARBs include olmesartan, losartan, and valsartan. According to blood pressure guidelines, both of these medications are equally effective as a first-choice medication for…

Author Credit: Evan Drnevich, PharmD Candidate 2022 (Duq) — ‘The Card Game’ Many patients have heard of GoodRx, SingleCare, and other similar prescription drug savings cards. Patients may use these cards because they provide better pricing than their insurance or because they are uninsured. While these cards may seem beneficial, they filter into the same inflated drug cost system that patients try…

Above is one of the worst coupons I’ve ever come across. RxSaver is owned by GoodRx. Even at the surface level, this is an alarming coupon. Without diving into the details yet, RxSaver is essentially saying the value of a pharmacist’s drug utilization review (DUR), patient counseling, technician help, vials…

By: Jasmine Chang, University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy Class of 2022 Dry skin is a common affliction many of us suffer with during the cold and dry months. It can look like flakey, itchy, cracked, red, scaly, and even bleeding skin. …

I’ve sat with this quote over the past week, and if I’m being honest it feels wrong. You see, a year ago (January 13, 2021) I agreed to meet with the CEO of the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company (MCCPDC).

Author credit: Jordan Tait, PharmD Candidate 2022, Duquesne University When asked to explain specialty medications during this rotation, I realized that I don’t have a specific definition in mind for them. My general idea was that specialty medications are “special” medications that are filled through a “special” pharmacy. In pharmacy…

It was the highest of list prices, it was the lower of list prices…it was the “same” pharmacy. Some facts: The list price of imatinib 400mg 30 tabs at CVS Pharmacy is $19,136.¹ The list price of imatinib 400mg 30 tabs at CVS Pharmacy inside Target is $10,216.² I can buy imatinib…

I’ll front-load this post with a personal belief that may not be readily apparent when reading: Prescription medication should be affordable and accessible to all. However, insurance is not the best means to achieve this goal. To start, I’ll ask you to ponder — what types of insurance have you…

It’s hard to believe that with all the news around insulin’s sky-high prices, lack of transparency around those prices, and known low-production cost, that you should actually be wasting some of that liquid gold with each dose that comes out of your insulin pen. I say “should” because I have…