The healthcare industry is expensive. It’s expensive to obtain insurance for most people and inevitably will become more expensive as the years go by. While some might end up being able to obtain health insurance for next to nothing, most of us that already paid for our own health insurance are now paying much more than ever before. The same goes for the cost of prescription drugs. Those who are in need of prescription medication are paying exorbitant sums for their health and medications, and many are just unaffordable. Read on to find out which prescription drugs are the most expensive in the world.
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Avastin – $40,000 Per Year
Avastin is a very popular prescription medication, but it’s also very expensive. This medication is used to prevent the growth and spread of cancer cells in a person’s body. The interference from this drug often helps cancer sufferers recover from cancer, slow the growth and give them time for treatment. It’s used when patients suffer from cancers such as kidney, colon, rectal and even lung cancer. It’s not usually given to patients by itself. Most medical professionals use this medication in combination with several other forms of medication to kill and stop the spread of awful cancer in a person’s body.
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Gilenya – $40,000 Per Year
Gilenya is another medication used to treat Multiple Sclerosis, but it’s also one of the more affordable medications for this particular disease. It’s not cheap, by any means, at $40,000 per year, but it’s significantly less expensive than some of the other medications on the market designed to treat this particular illness. Those who have Medicare often find that they are reimbursed for the cost of this medicine. However, it’s expensive and many people are forced to pay out of pocket to have this drug included in their care schedule.
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Lemtrada – $60,000 Per year
There are millions of people in the US alone that suffer from multiple sclerosis, a disease that can be more than just a little debilitating. This disease requires regular medication, but it’s expensive. Those who suffer from MS and also have Medicare often seen their prescription drug costs reimbursed, but there are many people who don’t. And those with private insurance can see some of their drugs paid for by insurance, but a lot of the expense associated with MS prescription drugs comes out of the pocket of those who need the medication.
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Provenge – $93,000 Per Year
This is a drug that’s used to treat prostate cancer. It’s a drug that is designed to help those who suffer from prostate cancer get rid of the cancer causing cells. While many people do decide to undergo surgery to remove tumors and others go through chemotherapy and/or radiation, some still have to take medications such as this. The amount of this medication you are prescribed is going to depend on the severity of your cancer, but most people can expect to pay up to $93,000 per year – on top of other medical costs – to treat prostate cancer.
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Aldurazyme – $200,000 – Per Year
This is a medication that’s used to treat a genetic enzyme condition. This is called Hurler syndrome. It’s a metabolic disorder in which the body does not properly break down sugars the correct way. It’s a dangerous disease and it requires specific medication to help keep it from causing further damage to the lives of those who suffer from it. This medication, however, is very expensive. The cost is around $200,000 per year, and it’s given at the hospital or clinic in your area. This cost can be reduced with health insurance, but it’s not a significant reduction.
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Fabrazyme – $200,000 Per Year
Fabry disease is a lack of enzyme in the body that the body needs to metabolize lipids. When a person suffers from this particular disease, the side effects are detrimental. People who suffer from this disease suffer from cardiovascular issues, pain and issues with their vision. There are a number of other unhealthy side effects associated with this issue as well. That’s why sufferers rely on this expensive medication to help them live their life without many complications, but it comes at a hefty price to live an improved lifestyle.
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Ceredase/Cerezyme – $200,000 Per Year
Gaucher disease is a disease in which lumps of fat build in inappropriate places in the body. This includes the heart and spleen and even the brain. This is due to a missing enzyme in the body. This medication is so expensive because it’s actually made from the placentas of human beings, which are produced during pregnancy. The price used to be a bit cheaper, but it’s gone up more than $50,000 in the past few years thanks to the fact that it’s now being made out of a genetically modified hamster cell, which was initially supposed to make the drug more affordable and less expensive.
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Arcalyst – $250,000 Per Year
When you suffer from diseases such as muckle-wells syndrome and familial cold auto-inflammatory syndrome, your body will begin to develop unfortunate symptoms for no apparent reason other than the presence of these particular diseases. These can affect all your major organs, bones and even your joints, which can cause severely negative side effects to your overall health. This medication works wonders, helping to almost completely prevent the symptoms that occur as a result of these diseases, but it comes with a very high price tag.
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Myozyme – $300,000 Per Year
The good news about this particular medication is that it’s much cheaper for children. That’s right; children who require this medication on a regular basis can get it for only $100,000 per year instead of $300,000 per year. This medication is designed to treat something called Pompe, which is a sometimes fatal disease that affects mostly infants that do not make it past their first year of life. It’s a heart and skeletal issue that usually puts sufferers in wheelchairs for life. It’s very expensive to treat, but deadly not to treat.
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ACTH – $300,000 Per Year
This is a drug that’s used to treat spasms in infants, which cause other health problems. The drug comes in a vial that must be injected into a baby, and the price is overwhelming. In fact, it’s $23,000 per vial to inject this medication in the body of an innocent baby who suffers from a terrible disease. The unfortunate aspect of this medication is that it’s not actually approved by the FDA for infantile spasms, which means most people will need to pay for it out of pocket because insurance agencies will not cover the price.
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Folotyn – $360,000 – Per Year
Cancer is never a good diagnosis, and those who suffer from a form of cancer call T-cell lymphoma are going to feel that it’s even worse than they thought. The cost of treating cancer is astronomical. This medication is designed to help improve cancer with treatment and to help prevent it from returning to a patient’s body. Unfortunately, the cost of this particular medication is $30,000 per month. It’s not affordable for most, and even with insurance it’s still so expensive that most people cannot afford to take the medication that could save their lives.
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Cinryze – $360,000 Per Year
When a person suffers from severe swelling as a result of hereditary angioedema, it’s never good. The reason this is so bad is the fact that most patient swell primarily in their airways and face, making it difficult to breathe. When this occurs, it can become deadly. It’s a disease that’s typically hereditary, which means you can blame it on your parents or grandparents. What you can’t do, however, is ask them to foot the bill for the very expensive prescription medication that comes along with the prevention of swelling caused by this hereditary disease.
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Naglazyme – $365,000 Per Year
It’s an enzyme that’s used to treat something by the name of maroteaux-lamy syndrome. This very rare genetic disorder always affects children by way of growth retardation in toddlers that seem developmentally on track. The problem with the disease, however, is that left untreated it can cause mental retardation as well as damage to a child’s tissues. That’s where this purified human enzyme comes into play. It prevents this from occurring, and allows most children to live a far more normal lifestyle than those who do not take this very expensive medication.
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Elaprase – $375,000 Per Year
Hunter Sydrome is something that’s inherited from other family members. It’s a disease that causes a number of unfortunate and dangerous side effects, which is why medication is required for treatment. There are only 500 people known to suffer from this disease, which could explain a little why the price is so exorbitant. Each vial costs somewhere around $4,200. In 2009, Americans spent approximately $350 million on just this drug to help treat this particular illness. It’s one of the most expensive prescription drugs in the world, but that’s what happens when you’re dealing with such a rare genetic disorder.
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Soliris – $409,500 Per Year
It’s by far the world’s most expensive prescription drug, according to Forbes. It’s used to treat a rare blood disease by the name of paroxysmal nocturnal hemobloginuria. It’s something that only affects around 8,000 people in the United States. However, the drug has a 90 percent success rate at fighting the issues that go hand-in-hand with this illness. The price, however, is astounding. Even with insurance to help with the cost of prescription drugs, it’s still expensive. Fortunately, those who are forced to pay for it agree that it’s worth every penny.
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