Insurance no longer covers Colazal - ideas??

Yes, my "new" 90-day total cost = 2 1/3 - 2 1/2 times what it cost at my last refill in January! With regard to Salix, this med was pricey from its launch, but then it stabilized for a good while so I'd say they were due an increase (considering market forces), but not a huge one. Deltaforce nailed this whole mess we're in perfectly with his comment about our 4th rate health care system. Seems like the PA Walmart pharmacy has the best Colazal deal going-- for the time being. The irony is that brandname does not need any compounding by "middleman" pharmacists; Salix packs it in bottles of 280 caps to cover all the months with 31 days. So confirmed patients should be able to purchase 3 bottles directly from their factory; however, that would technically = a 93-day supply, which our stupid insurance plans don't have the flexibility to reckon with!!!!!!! My local pharmacist commented a couple yrs back that it is not a cost-effective practice to require that the 3rd bottle of Colazal be opened at a "middleman" pharmacy so that 30 capsules can be removed to make the 93-day supply a 90-day supply-- since we need that med continuously, anyway. That is one example of the illogic driving our seriously flawed Rx system. (Sigh) / Old Hat (34 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)

jazzgtrl4 said...
I Know its somewhat forbidden but anyone here want to "sell" me a three month supply of brand name if they can get it at a good price?

Careful, that's illegal. Only a doctor can prescribe prescription medication, and only a pharmacist can distribute medication. Look for the patient assistance programs in the resources thread at the top of this forum. You can also order cheaper medications from Canada.

Well, hello again OldHat! I will give you one guess what has brought me back to the forum this time!

I have been doing pretty good with my GI issues - still gluten free, and then I got some genetic testing that showed I had the mthfr mutation which effects methylation, so I take a mix of special vitamins for that which has also helped me. I had a bit of a flare a month ago - my first real flare I think since I was diagnosed, but I credit that to a prescription of the z-pack antibiotic I had taken. Anyway, I am now back to normal, thankfully.

So, it comes as a surprise (well, kind of I guess) that when I attempted to routinely refill my brand name Colazal order, through my normally excellent Walgreens location (they had managed to get me brand name Colazal through our last fiasco) I find out that my GI called in Lialda and that the Colazal was stuck on requiring a pre-authorization.

Might this be a good time for me to mention that Salix stock (SLXP) is presently at $172.81/share? Back a few years ago, I remember my GI saying it wasn't a good investment (it was $20/share).

So, naturally, my first question to the friendly walgreens representative was "how much do Lialda and Colazal cost?" She told me something similar to what the author of this thread was saying: (if memory serves me) the cash price was said to be around $1100 for Lialda and $3000 for Colazal. I have no way of knowing if she was referring to 30 day or 90 day supplies for either though.

I am disheartened coming here and finding this thread - although it is nice to see that this forum is still on top of things! So, I wonder who out there is wanting us to take our daily dose of Shellac? Not looking forward to my UC worsening at the expense of bigpharma. What kind of a cluster**** situation do we have when patients are clamoring to stay on a medication that WORKS and the company that makes it wants to SHUT IT DOWN? Makes no sense to me.

This one looks like it will be affecting us all again!

Hope everything is going well otherwise,


doors12

Hi, Doors! I did in fact think of YOU when MNBeachgal initiated this thread. Am also wondering where we go from here ... the late Jennifer Jaff of Advocacy for Patients with Chronic Illness really got after Salix in 2011-12, with all the savvy + passion of an experienced lawyer who also had longtime Crohn's & took brandname Colazal herself! No doubt that helped our cause immensely because she had the right contacts. I'll be in a big mess Rx-wise for the rest of 2015 as this huge CZ price increase throws me immediately into the Medicare Part D coverage gap, whereby one has to shell out $4700 cash for all remaining Rx meds before so-called catastrophic insurance coverage kicks in. *** CGK, that is rather unwelcome news, but thanks for info.! / Old Hat (34 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)

iPoop said...

jazzgtrl4 said...
I Know its somewhat forbidden but anyone here want to "sell" me a three month supply of brand name if they can get it at a good price?

Careful, that's illegal. Only a doctor can prescribe prescription medication, and only a pharmacist can distribute medication. Look for the patient assistance programs in the resources thread at the top of this forum. You can also order cheaper medications from Canada.

Ya thats not going to work. I make too much for patient assistance and Canadian pharmacies don't carry Salix brand Colazal. Its a UK based company called Almiral Limited and they do not stock it..at least the 2 or 3 Canadian pharmacies i spoke with..They order it, comes from UK goes through customs etc. to get into the states and then to the user.

Or maybe they want to push Colazal off-market so as to unload some of their own GI meds in the U.S. Outrageous situation, solely geared to their investors' benefit ... capitalism at its finest. / Old Hat (34 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)

Not a good sign at all. I sure hope Walgreens still has the 2 bottles they had ordered for my 90 day supply when I ended up only picking up 30 to spread the cost out. I think I'll have to reorder soon and request a 90 day supply and see how long it takes them to get it. Fingers crossed. But I am skeptical.

I just found this thread, hadn't been on the forum for about a yr. I can confirm that Apriso, another Salix product, has also shot up in price!! I went to my GI today to talk about my options. He gave me some Apriso samples to give me some time (12 days) to figure out my next step. Suggested to call my insurance company to see what ones they "like". But my insurance company is United, which from reading this thread doesn't fare well. ugh.

I just got off the phone with Express scripts myself. Researching other options since Apriso is now so high. Anyone taking the generic version of Colazal? Looks like that may be my best option. I've only taken mesalamine based meds, Apriso and Lialda. I'm so hesitant to change from the Apriso (if it ain't broke, don't fix it!), but $400+/mo for a maintenance med is tough to take.

Maybe it's a regional thing? I just refilled my Colazal prescription for 30 days with no problems, a few days ago. I also use Walgreens, they had plenty in stock.

kerplunk, I've tried the generic of Colazal. Two different manufacturers, I can't remember which ones now. Neither of them worked as well as Colazal. One even left a yellow powdery dust on everything it touched. For the most part, they gave me excess gas and some mucus in my stool. I don't get any of that on brand name Colazal.

Hey, y'all-- finally received my 4/10 refill (required mail order) on 4/28. ExS sent "2/16 expiration date" Colazal again in 90-day supply-- so I'd be interested to hear what dates other users are getting now-- to have some idea what Salix is still putting out in the marketplaces. / Old Hat (34 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)*** P.S. 3rd Salix bottle, which gets opened by ExS to remove 30 capsules, got exchanged for 1 of their flimsy plastics, which shed its lid in transit to me and spilled most of the remaining capsules inside the jiffybag so that they bounced around the 2 intact Salix bottles, how sanitary! Luckily, only a dozen caps got banged up & none burst.