Cost of medication as an inpatient is SHOCKING!!!

[live4today, RN]

I had a patient who wanted something for her headache. I offered her the Tylenol the doctor had ordered for her to take on a prn schedule. She told me she was hospitalized many times before, and was charged $25.00 per Tylenol tablet! She refused, and said she'd keep her headache before she paid that much again for a Tylenol!

Can we blame our patients for turning down meds that they know are so expensive in the first place?

What is happening in healthcare is atrocious to say the least!

I can buy several bottles of Tylenol for that price!

[echo4689]

Same situation .

I said 'only rich can afford the treatment'------not very true,but a little

[live4today, RN]

Stuff like selling Tylenol at a price like that per pill should truly be illegal! That's highway robbery for sure! How can hospitals get away with that?

[meownsmile, BSN, RN]

Wouldnt it be nice if X number of doses of the Tylenol/Ibuprofen/Mylanta could be included in the price of the room per day. If you dont use the bath basin etc. you still get charged for it, it is included in the price of the room admission usually. Why not include a couple doses of OTC medication, of course dispensed by the nurse.

[purplemania, BSN, RN]

How much was she charged for nursing time, for housekeeper, pharmacist, etc? There are no intangible items on the bill so "time" has to be charged by factoring it into other items. What would it be worth to the pt. who is allergic to Tylenol or has a liver condition for the nurse to intervene in their behalf???

[echo4689]

Although the many of the price so high,But maybe actually it costs low . The country get high tax . The boss of medication industry get richer and richer

[live4today, RN]

May the healthcare robbers pray for mercy on judgement day for their unfair practices!

If it were "legal", I'd take my Tylenol to the hospital, and charge them a lower rate...say...$1.00 per pill? :chuckle

[MandyInMS]

I saw something on the news other day about Americans ordering meds from Canada...price was about 1/2 as here...that's just sad how the drug companies jack up the prices so high..rich getting richer..poor getting poorer...makes me ILL

[colleen10]

OMG!!!! I wouldn't have paid that much either.

God willing I would have put myself in a wheel chair and carted myself down to the gift shop where they probably are cheaper!

[Nurse Ratched, RN]

At our facility, patients can always bring in home medications and request pharmacy verify them and label them for use while an inpatient (with a doctor's order permitting use of home meds.) I'm guessing this would apply to OTC's as well.

Sheesh - and people wonder why I'm so anal about returning unused/unopened meds for credit to patients' accounts.

[stella123 rn]

Hospitals have to adjust costs otherwise they would be out of business. The amount of non-paying patients are amazing. We did a study on it. The only way to cover the costs of people who do not pay is to overcharge paying customers. If hospitals were not able to do that, we would not have any open. I was surprised at the amount of people that do not pay their bills. I wish I could remember the statistics. It is not right, but an alternative way has not been found yet.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Originally posted by purplemania

How much was she charged for nursing time, for housekeeper, pharmacist, etc? There are no intangible items on the bill so "time" has to be charged by factoring it into other items. What would it be worth to the pt. who is allergic to Tylenol or has a liver condition for the nurse to intervene in their behalf???

I was kind of thinking the same thing. A patient who needs Tylenol should somehow pay for the nursing time spent intervening, documenting, etc. and the pharmacy who fills it, and the method of getting to the nurses station.

But $25.00 a pill??? That's amazing.