The cost of Trimix

just went up......My local compounding pharmacy isn't doing sterile work any longer, too much BS from the FDA. Now it's only available around here through a major hospital's pharmacy and might be covered by insurance, at 6 doses/month. Oh well........

Same problem here, local compounding pharmacy has stopped mixing trimix. Looking for mail order supplier. A question for veterans, does the VA or tricare have trimix?

My husband paid $110 for 3 vials of Trimix.  I think it was 36 injections for the 3, however, he doesn't use near that much so it's much more than 36.

Have you all heard about Senate Bill 959?  The below came from a compounding pharmacist that I know.  The description below targets bioidentical hormone pellets, but that doesn't matter.  It will apply to all sterile compounded drugs which includes BiMix and Trimix.  So just read it as BiMix or Trimix. 

So far it means that the compounds, including any bio-identical formula, if prescribed for a specific patient, then shipped to the patient directly to be used as a prescription at home or then taken into the doctor’s office for insertion would still be allowed and no interference with the current system.

 

If a doctor insists on buying at the office level, in other words a quantity of medication shipped directly to the doctor’s office for use in any patient as needed, then the pharmacy would have to file for the special compounding license and would be governed by the FDA, not just the Board of Pharmacy in each state.  Most pharmacies won't want to have this extra license and be inspected by the FDA as well as the Board of Pharmacy.  Doctors won't like that, because then they lose income and can't charge the patient for the medications.

 

This is how I interpret it so far, and I am also under the opinion that it will pass after the deaths of 51 patients since last Fall by NECC.

 

BiMix and Trimix are sterilized before shipping to patients and doctors, so they fall into the sterile category.

 

Also, a new category of pharmacy will be established, a Compounding Manufacturer, and the license fee to become one will be in excess of $15,000.00/year; instead several hundred dollars a year.  So the number of pharmacies participating will dwindle greatly, in my estimation.

 

Hope this helps all of you understand the language so far as proposed.  I think it is almost a done deal.  So medications will still be available however, some pharmacies will drop them or prices may go up.  For Testosterone, the DEA may even get more involved.

 

Right now, the Senate is in recess.  The bill was successfully pushed back in July and August.  Hopefully when they convene, this bill will have lost steam and goes away.

 

Here are some sites with good information:

http://mymedsmatter.com/

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/s959

http://www.protectmycompounds.com/news/

 

There is an interesting article in today's Wall Street Journal called "Dangers from Compounding Pharmacies Persist". It discusses the Senate bill that azsunshine mentions in her post.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324324404579041001254487312.html?mod=WSJ_hpsMIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond

Sorry, I don't know how to make links clickable in Safari.

The article discusses the $15,000 fee:

"Under the bill, which Senate Democratic aides say could come up for a vote this month, large compounding pharmacies that make sterile products, such as steroid injections, would be reclassified as "compounding manufacturers." Those with more than $1 million in annual revenue would pay a $15,000 fee every year and be placed on a national registry. Inspections would occur every three years."