A calm and supportive thread to discuss the Price Increases: Mounjaro

[TryingAgainAgainAgain]

For anyone who would like a calmer place to share support and information about the price increases.

It isn’t market demand that’s driven the price increase.

The mainstream media are reporting that Trump sent a letter to 17 drug manufacturers giving them 60 days to lower prices in America or the government would lower them to the lowest ‘list’ price currently in the developed world.

So Eli Lilly have upped the list price of MJ in the UK as ours was the lowest of anywhere. With US insurance companies setting prices and availability it’s very hard to see what difference it would make to them. But it makes Trump look good to his cult.

Others suggest that the price has risen so that private paying patients are subsidising the cost of NHS subscriptions but this is conjecture and not fact.

I finished my journey in June so this doesn’t affect me. I have every sympathy with the people that will be affected by the price increase. The original price was expensive, but just manageable and evens out by how much money I was saving on food! I don’t think I could have paid these increased prices .

That is interesting, did not know that. I do hope they have improved things. I would have gone with Boots but the prices they were charging, which makes me wonder how much more of a mark up they will be putting on, if not much more, I may switch....

Thank you for reposting that, it's really interesting, and I had missed it.

A poster called @TheRealGoose was saying something I think similar on the other thread from near the start. Calmed me down! For all of us with no insight into pharmaceutical pricing, the list price doc looked terrifying.

Thanks for this thread OP 🌸

Thanks for setting this up - I didn’t want to post much on the other thread.

What are everyone’s plans to be able to keep going?

I’ve been side hustling to pay for my current jabs, so I guess I’ll have to up my efforts! Happy to share what I’ve been doing if it helps anyone.

Anyone know how much the prices are going up by?

Just to clarify a list price ISN’T what the manufacturers are charged. It’s the RRP. So a £330 list price doesn’t mean EL charge that to Voy or whoever. They will have negotiated prices (which will be going up).

Hence why big companies could potentially negotiate much bigger discounts.

Yes @TheRealGoose has been a voice of sanity from the start and I believe actually works in Pharma! In the UK we are in an unusual situation as the Pharmacy industry isn't regulated regarding price, so individual businesses are free to charge what they think the market will bear. By comparison, Europe has a price regulated pharma industry, so prices are uniform across providers and much closer to the list price. I won't say it's a Brexit bonus because I can't bear to but maybe it is!

I'm with oushk and they are not taking orders for any more in August. I am on 15 and have had to swap to another provider which charged £250

@lv565 you posted on the other thread too offering your side hustle tips via DM. I assume it’s some kind of MLM you’re trying to promote on these threads

Agree @MagicaMagical but my point still stands - pharmacies in the UK are not under any obligation to charge customers the RRP - it's a business decision whether they choose to or not. We've all seen the tags in store - RRP x / Our price Y

It is a subscription but you can pause, change delivery dates any time and cancel any time too I think. They’ve been really great for me. I know others were cheaper but now it seems Numan may be the cheapest option for me.

According to Reddit many pharmacies are taking orders, holding the money for a few days (making the interest on it) then cancelling and returning…..

I only started in June, I’m on my 3rd pen and taking 5mg. I have decided to order 7.5mg pens now and use 6 lots of 5mg from each pen, which means the pen will be open for 35 days. I think this will make it feasible to continue.

Oh that makes sense. I was vaguely wondering how the pharmacies could take a loss on it... 🙃

Evening all. Nothing useful to add to your calm and lovely thread really, other than I've noticed fluctuations in both Mounjaro & Wegovy prices since yesterday. Mostly pharmacies pushing prices in the upwards direction to cash in on the panic, though one or two providers dropping Wegovy a bit to make them more competitive for those switching.

My next pen will be due an order before Sept, I'll possibly get a reminder next week. So I may get one in before the increase. I'm a plodder and I am expecting/hoping to be on this drug for quite some time yet. Hopefully only a low dose for me as I seem quite sensitive to it. Fingers crossed that doesn't wane.

I registered at MedExpress to get an extra pen on Thursday and was approved an hour later and had the delivery yesterday so very speedy service from them. Hope you manage to find somewhere just as efficient 🤞

Can they actually make interest on an amount that’s pending on my credit card?

I'm not sure about this theory. It costs money to process a card payment, and you don't get it back when you refund the customer. The money also takes a few days minimum to be paid to businesses from card issuers. More likely the pharmacies doing this are just disorganised and not very tech/e-commerce savvy.

Commercially, it's better to leave the payment as 'pending' and then void it when you cancel the order. Rather than collect the money then refund. Pending payments show on the customer's statement, but not properly. The money is just earmarked but never properly taken.

Agreed, if it is pending they don’t have the money and can’t make the interest. But I’ve had it before where I’ve applied and they take the money only to cancel and refund a week or more later.

That's really useful, book marked as I might need to shop around in the future. Thank you

Thanks for this, I also wondered what the situation would be with stopping vs titrating down. I worry I would turn (werewolf-style) into a ravenous beast if it was a cliff edge sudden stop 😬 that’s my nightmare anyway , that all the hard fought for losses would pack back on in a fortnight.. 🙈

I honestly think that's incompetence rather than an interest grab. Business current account interest rates are abysmal to non-existent, and it would take months to recoup the cost of processing the card payment in the first place.

It goes up on September 1st, so maybe worth getting a pen soon

Fingers crossed I’m going to be ok for the next 27 weeks or longer!!
I’ve ordered a pen from my regular supplier, 3 pens from a new supplier, I’ve already got a pen that I haven’t used yet and I’ve got a pen that’s been used, and got 3 doses left in it!
Hopefully I’ll hit my target in the next 15 weeks and then I’ll start spacing the doses out longer than 7 days apart!
I’ve also ordered some for my daughter too, to keep her going for a while!