It's terrible to hear this. This is an old drug that should never cost this much. I know you are willing to pay for what helps, but that big of a price jump does make a difference in our lives after a while.

It could be an insurance issue. If your insurance co-pay has changed, or if you have reached the gap in medicare/medicaid. You might start by contacting your insurance company and asking them why. They do make mistakes at times that can be corrected. Hope you are able to get it back down.

One more thing, ask the pharmacist what the drug would cost without insurance. They put me on Methotraxate shots for a while. My co-pay was $40 dollars a shot, but the pharmacist told me that if I just bought it without insurance it was only $10. They have contracted prices on some of these drugs.

Don't know if any of this helps, but we have to try.
God bless.

Thanks Steve! CVS says it is a price hike in 2015! I called Aetna and they told me the same thing! I certainly don't mind paying for a drug that you have to have but that seems steep for a generic drug! They are looking to see if there could be a reduction in price and will let me know! The price without insurance for 3 months is $459 so happy I have insurance! My hubby takes 4 a day for almost 6 years! Thanks for your response! Barb

That is happening with other drugs too. The price of mestinon timespan has gone up to over $600 for thirty tablets. I have read articles of this same type of thing on drugs that have been around a long time, but patients must have them, so they jack up the price knowing you must pay it.
I take 3,4 dap for Lems and it is given away for free by Jacobus pharmaceuticals on a compassionate use basis. It has been successfully treating Lems patients for over twenty years. Because there are so few Lems patients, they never secured FDA approval.
So along comes a large pharmaceutical, Biomarin, who took the same drug, added a phosphate salt stabilizer to it and proceeded to get it approved as a new drug in European countries and started charging thousands of dollars for the same old drug. Because it got approved, the unapproved version was no longer allowed to be prescribed. As a result, patients are without the drug.
Biomarin then sold the rights to that drug to Catylist pharmaceuticals here in the US. They are declaring that this is a new drug that they have developed for a promising new treatment for Lems. They neglected to tell their stockholders that such a drug already existed and has been used for over twenty years, so they were sued by the stockholders for this lie. Now they are trying to get FDA approval so they can charge astronomical prices for it. They are also trying to get patients that have been on the Jacobus dap for years to join their studies, so if they get the approval they will be able to start charging.

Jacobus, the original and benevolent manufacturer, is now quietly seeking FDA approval before Catylist gets theirs.
There are a lot of dirty tricks in this medicine business...

It's been years since i was active on this sight. Sept. 2010 stage 4 malignant thymoma and thymic carcinoma. Uncontrolled mg almost exactly 5 years ago. Check cheapodrugs.com. Canada, home country of manufacturer. Plants in us and canada. Labels on both bottles(us and canada) are almost the same. Two months worth delivered is approx. $84.00. In us my co-pay part d is approx. 80.00 for two months and $1000.00 toward my doughnut hole.

Check with your prescribing doctor and ask that they request a copay exception to lower your copay. Many times I've processed requests on behalf of patients to lower their copay and especially if you've been on it for a while with documented success on the medication. The dotor's staff member just has to state that the increase cost to you is a major hardship and you cannot afford to continue to pay the increased amount. The other option is to request a tier exception. Some insurance plans call it by a different name. I have not once been denied a request based on finacial hardship. Whether it's true or not, nobody should have to pay those costs out of pocket. I'm not sure if this is on the Wal-mart/CVS/Walgreen's, etc $4 prescription plan or not but it might be worth looking into. If that doesn't help you out you can contact the manufacterer to see if they have patient assistance programs to assist with the cost. Often times they send the drugs straight to your home (as long as it isn't a controlled substance).

Please let us know if any of these options work out for you. It might help others here in the same manner. Good luck!

Ahpotts72,
Sage advice.
Thanks for the post.

Well, I live in Canada and I did notice a price jump too - i went from approx $120 to $150 for qty 250... how's that for a rip-off?

Well heard back from company and pyridostigmine even if generic is now a tier 3 drug! Jerry gets 360 tablets, a 3 month supply, for $135 is not that bad when that keeps him pretty normal for such a terrible disease! Thanks for the responses ! Barb

Thank you Steve and I took your advice and called Aetna about the price jump and after hearing back that we were denied any reduction as it is now a tier 3 drug! I accepted that we would pay $135 for 3months! Ten minutes ago my husband receive a called from Aetna saying his request was approved! Told them he got a letter of denial yesterday and they told him that is standard! We had to give his doctors name so assuming they asked how necessary the drug was and this is reason for approval and 3 months would now be $18 and a refund of difference last month! Today being our 59th anniversary, this was a nice gift! I love this group that is so ready to help one another! This group is like my Maine state logo, " The way life should be". Lol.

Great advice here, glad you got some help!