3 ms·

Walmart has Amoxicillin, a commonly prescribed antibiotic for tooth infection for $4 for a month supply. https://www.walmart.com/cp/4-dollar-presscriptions/1078

by pkaye 10y ago

Walmart has Amoxicillin, a commonly prescribed antibiotic for tooth infection for $4 for a month supply. https://www.walmart.com/cp/4-dollar-presscriptions/1078664 https://www.walmart.com/cp/4-dollar-presscriptions/1078664 They have quite a few common generics all for the same low price. The generic medications are often times cheap but the catch is you need a doctor's prescription and that is where it costs.

konschubert 10y ago
I'm not from the United States, so I have to ask: is amoxicillin available without prescription?
- maxerickson 10y ago
  No. Well, maybe in pet stores. I'm not sure what exactly an ER would do. I guess they would write a prescription without worrying about whether the patient would pay for the visit. (There are requirements for certain types of facilities to provide stabilizing treatment without requiring payment; I simply don't know whether the prescription would be part of that.)
- gt2 10y ago
  no
- kakarot 10y ago
  Online, you can purchase fish or cow antibiotics with purportedly the same stuff, but these are not medical grade and I have heard stories (not sure if it is big pharma propaganda or not) of dangerous impurities. It is probably best for species survival that we keep antibiotics behind a wall. But only if that wall comes down when people need it, not only when they pay the toll.
drewg123 10y ago
The key word is "prescribed". That means that in order to get this $4 drug to save your life, you have to go to a medical provider for a prescription. If you're poor, you likely will not have a normal doctor or dentist, and going to an ER could leave you with crippling debt. If you don't realize your problem is serious enough to kill you, the rational choice is to suffer until it clears up on its own. I'm not advocating that people be able to purchase antibiotics without a prescription -- that would lead to more drug resistance. However, I do think that states should consider allowing pharmacists to do more, such as allowing them to prescribe medications in "simple" cases like this. Pharmacists are the most underutilized medical professionals that we have, and using them more effectively could have a big impact.
- maxerickson 10y ago
  It's not necessarily simple though. For instance, lots of doctors would want to check for an abscess.
  - LyndsySimon 10y ago
    The last time I had an abscess, I went to an urgent care. I paid cash ($80), told the doctor that I believed I had an abscess, and asked for a prescription for antibiotics since I was traveling and it would be at least a couple of days before I could see my dentist. He did a very cursory oral exam, wrote the prescription, and we were done.
    - maxerickson 10y ago
      So how do I get my money back from the hospital/doctor that did a CT scan to investigate my sinus infection at 4 AM? (I had a cavity on a tooth and the infection irritated that tooth so I had pretty good pain on that tooth and non localized pain along my whole jaw and also had never had such a painful sinus infection and went to the ER because I didn't understand why it was so painful. I bitched at them, they came back with "the doctor wanted to be sure there was no abscess". What really pisses me off is that having the radiologist do the diagnosis kicked the visit up to a more expensive billing code, because apparently it's complicated to do imaging and defer the diagnosis. They bill you to collect the information to make the diagnosis obvious and then bill you more because they collected more information.)
      - LyndsySimon 10y ago
        If you were confident that's what it was and were willing to take the risk, you should have refused the additional test. Doctor's advice is just that - advice.
        maxerickson 10y ago
        My ramble above isn't all that clear, but I wasn't confident at all, I didn't understand why I had the amount of pain I did (hence going to the ER in the middle of the night). The point is the doctor wanted to check for an abscess.

by pkaye 10y ago

konschubert 10y ago

I'm not from the United States, so I have to ask: is amoxicillin available without prescription?

maxerickson 10y ago
No. Well, maybe in pet stores. I'm not sure what exactly an ER would do. I guess they would write a prescription without worrying about whether the patient would pay for the visit. (There are requirements for certain types of facilities to provide stabilizing treatment without requiring payment; I simply don't know whether the prescription would be part of that.)
gt2 10y ago
no
kakarot 10y ago
Online, you can purchase fish or cow antibiotics with purportedly the same stuff, but these are not medical grade and I have heard stories (not sure if it is big pharma propaganda or not) of dangerous impurities. It is probably best for species survival that we keep antibiotics behind a wall. But only if that wall comes down when people need it, not only when they pay the toll.

drewg123 10y ago

The key word is "prescribed". That means that in order to get this $4 drug to save your life, you have to go to a medical provider for a prescription. If you're poor, you likely will not have a normal doctor or dentist, and going to an ER could leave you with crippling debt. If you don't realize your problem is serious enough to kill you, the rational choice is to suffer until it clears up on its own. I'm not advocating that people be able to purchase antibiotics without a prescription -- that would lead to more drug resistance. However, I do think that states should consider allowing pharmacists to do more, such as allowing them to prescribe medications in "simple" cases like this. Pharmacists are the most underutilized medical professionals that we have, and using them more effectively could have a big impact.

maxerickson 10y ago
It's not necessarily simple though. For instance, lots of doctors would want to check for an abscess.
- LyndsySimon 10y ago
  The last time I had an abscess, I went to an urgent care. I paid cash ($80), told the doctor that I believed I had an abscess, and asked for a prescription for antibiotics since I was traveling and it would be at least a couple of days before I could see my dentist. He did a very cursory oral exam, wrote the prescription, and we were done.
  - maxerickson 10y ago
    So how do I get my money back from the hospital/doctor that did a CT scan to investigate my sinus infection at 4 AM? (I had a cavity on a tooth and the infection irritated that tooth so I had pretty good pain on that tooth and non localized pain along my whole jaw and also had never had such a painful sinus infection and went to the ER because I didn't understand why it was so painful. I bitched at them, they came back with "the doctor wanted to be sure there was no abscess". What really pisses me off is that having the radiologist do the diagnosis kicked the visit up to a more expensive billing code, because apparently it's complicated to do imaging and defer the diagnosis. They bill you to collect the information to make the diagnosis obvious and then bill you more because they collected more information.)
    - LyndsySimon 10y ago
      If you were confident that's what it was and were willing to take the risk, you should have refused the additional test. Doctor's advice is just that - advice.
      - maxerickson 10y ago
        My ramble above isn't all that clear, but I wasn't confident at all, I didn't understand why I had the amount of pain I did (hence going to the ER in the middle of the night). The point is the doctor wanted to check for an abscess.