Replying to a message of Roger Nelson to Bob Ackley:

 BA>> I have no doubt about that.  Right now Tricare (or the Air
 BA>> Force) is paying for my eight prescriptions.  I'll
 BA>> probably go broke real quick if I have to start paying
 BA>> even part of that (Plavix alone is $475.00 for 90 pills,
 BA>> that's over $150/month for that alone).

 RN> Yeah, I heard that was expensive.  Even my doctor wants to
 RN> "cure" my hypertension with medication, but I truly believe
 RN> all I need to do is shed a few more pounds and everything
 RN> will be normal -- or as normal as it can be for my age.

That plus exercise will help a lot.

I suspect I could probably get off my diabetes meds now that I've
dropped down to 165 or thereabouts.

 RN>  As for Plavix, if you had Internet access, you could get it
 RN> much cheaper from one of the drugstores in Canada.  You'd
 RN> need your doctor to FAX them your Rx or you could mail it
 RN> to them.  I don't know the strength, but one of them
 RN> advertises it thusly: 90 tablets for $27.00.  That may be
 RN> generic, but there isn't much difference that I've noticed
 RN> in the ones I've had to buy there.

I don't think Plavix is off patent yet, so there shouldn't be any (legal)
generics of it yet.  There are similar drugs, such as coumadin, but I
think that's still on patent too.  Right now - and subject to change at
any whim of the government despite its expressed and implied promises
- my prescription drugs are still free.

 RN> To compound things even more and continue with the (ahem)
 RN> rape of the American consumer, gasoline prices here have
 RN> risen 14 cents per gallon over the past several months. 
 RN> The cheapest I can find premium here is $2.73.9.

It's around $2.49/gallon in this area - or at least it was a bit over
a week ago when I last bought some (I don't get out much and don't
use nearly as much gasoline as I used to).  IIRC it was around $2.10
the beginning of last year - but of course there's no inflation because
the government says so.

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