Well, disgraced AstraZeneca sales exec Mike Zubillaga has finally removed his foot from his mouth and broken his silence. Via Pharmalot, here’s what Mike had to say:
It’s been an absolutely horrible week. I don’t wish this on anyone. But I have to move on. I have a family to take care of…I hold no grudges or malice against anyone. Right now, I’m just trying to piece my life back together. But I don’t have any other comment at this point.
He declined to go into details about the controversial AstraZeneca newsletter article or his firing.
The good news is that consumers do have an alternative to AstraZeneca’s “big bucket of money” prices. Recently, we helped PharmaGossip put together a price comparison that shows cancer patients can save up to 65 percent by purchasing their Casodex from Canada.
PharmaGossip reports:
Thanks to Cary Byrd at eDrugSearch.com (their database encompasses PharmacyChecker-approved pharmacies as well as other pharmacies accredited by reputable organizations such as IMPAC, CIPA, MIPA and VIPPS) we can now take a look at how much of a gouging US cancer patients are getting when they have to pay for Casodex (50mg) tablets.
US price per tablet : $17.33
Canada: $6.13 per tablet (120 x 50 mg tabs = $735).
Australia: $7.63 (30 x 50 mg tabs = $228.86).
Israel: $7.70 (112 x 50 mg tabs = $862.56).
U.K.: $15.68 (28 x 50 mg tabs = $439).
So, Casodex is cheaper virtually everywhere else in the world – with the price in Canada about 65 percent less than the U.S. price cited.
Ouch!
To summarize, U.S. “big bucket” pricing: Ouch! Canadian pricing: Ahhhh!
