Sarafem is the biggest rip-off I’ve ever seen. We had a patient bring in a script for Sarafem 20mg, 1 capsule daily, for a 3 month supply. Of course, we didn’t have it, so I told here we would have to order it.

What I knew about Sarafem was limited; I knew it was for postpartum depression, and that it was essentially an antidepressant. What I didn’t know was that it’s the exact same thing as Prozac (fluoxetine), which is available as a generic for literally 1/10 the copay (for this patient anyway.) The patient’s copay for 3 months of Sarafem is $120 whereas her copay on 3 months of fluoxetine is $12.

On the other side of things, we got a promotional fax (which I usually throw away) for Neupro, the new Parkinson’s patch. We have one patient (Mrs. Nicelady, if you’ve been reading this blog for a while) who can only afford her Parkinson’s meds during the catastrophic coverage of her medicare plan, which is usually just the last 2 months or so of the year. So, I priced Neupro for her, and even during the coverage gap, it’s under $100 a month for the lowest strength, which is much less than her normal $600 a month. Plus, since it’s new, her doctor can get a ton of samples to give her when she can’t afford it.

It’s nice to see a new drug that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg (relatively speaking, of course.)