The price of Makena, a form of progesterone given as a weekly shot to prevent pre-term labor, has increased from $10 a shot to $1500 a shot due to the FDA recently giving KV Pharmaceuticals exclusive distribution of the drug. Prior to this decision, the production of this form of progesterone was not standardized by the FDA. KV Pharmaceuticals now markets the progesterone shot as Makena and has obscenely inflated the price. Unbelievable.
I would expect that women who have suffered multiple losses, infertility and difficulty getting pregnant would be at more risk for pre-term labor and therefore represent a larger portion of the women who need this drug. This price gouge feels like yet another attack on infertility and pregnancy loss to me. Have you or has anyone you know used this form of progesterone during pregnancy?
Read more from the AP, Jezebel and Time.
8 comments:
I haven't but seeing this info the other day just infuriated me. How insane can you get?
I'm just sick about this. We are about to do IVF in April and our RE has told us that I will likely need this early in my pregnancy or I will miscarry again. We wont be able to afford to do the IVF if we have to pay $1500 a day for this medication. This is wrong on so many levels. Right now I'm waiting to here if insurance will cover any of this!
Wow - this sucks! Why is this stuff so freaking expensive???
I posted an article about this on Facebook, and was surprised to see no one comment on it. Why are people so blind to infertility till it strikes them :(
i read about this too. its f-ing unbelievable what these pharmecutical companies do. unbelievable.
Sandy,
Did your RE say you will need this form of progesterone specifically? The newly named Makena is given as a weekly shot later in pregnancy to prevent preterm labor and most likely not given after IVF or in the first weeks of pregnancy.
I'm sorry you are dealing with insurance woes!
Wow, this is absolutely ridiculous Jill. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Jill. You are right this is not the drug I will need. But it still makes me angry that they can do this!
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