Norvasc, Amvasc, Let Me Ask

Posted on January 29, 2007
Filed Under Health and Beauty, Information | Viewed 17147 times

Hypertension Alert
It’s a known fact – hypertension, or high blood pressure, known as the “silent killer” is prevalent among Filipinos (now about 7.7 million people, and still counting). There is at least a member of the family who has it, or are candidates of the illness. The Philippines Society of Hypertension’s Lay Information Guide on Undeterstanding Hypertension is very useful.

What is hypertension?

Hypertension is another name for high blood pressure. It is that condition when the pressure inside of your large arteries is too high. Because it does not usually produce any symptoms, the only way to detect hypertension is to have your blood pressure measured. Hypertension is a very common problem that affects about8 million FIlipinos . It is also the most common cardiovascular condition in the world. It is more common as people grow older and it occurs equally in men and women. Hypertension is not simply being tense or nervous.

The Guide states, among other things, treatment:

One must first start with the healthy lifestyle changes as previously mentioned. Some people with very minimal elevations of blood pressure will respond to this non-drug treatment alone. Even with adherence to a healthy lifestyle, a person’s blood pressure may rise as they grow older and they may, at some point, require drug treatment. Even if medication is required, a healthy lifestyle should be continued. That will make the medications more effective and possibly reduce the amount of drugs required. Once medications are started, it is extremely important to continue with the treatment. People who stop treatment almost always return to their original blood pressure level or higher. The treatment for most patients is life-long. If you have a problem with a medication, always tell your doctor. Do not just stop a medication on your own.

I have highlighted the portion above to stress the importance of MAINTENANCE, meaning, one has to take the medicine daily, without fail, so that the condition will not get worse.

WHY AM I WRITING THIS POST?

I am writing this post because I can’t help it. I revolt inside everytime I think about the sky rocket cost of the most popular maintenance medicine that was available in the market for the past years (NORVASC, to be specific) until the birth of another drug, similar in formulation, AMVASC to be specific). NORVASC, manufactured by Pfizer Philippines was “teh hypertension drug”. It costs P44.75 (5mg) and P74.75 (10 mg). Now comes AMVASC, manufactured by United Laboratories. It costs P17.50 (5 mg) and soon to come, P27.25 (10 mg). A huge difference, indeed. But the issue does not stop here.

In the begininng I was only amused, with what seemed to be a war among the drug manufacturers (there was even a the full page newspaper spread, comparing both drugs (bottomline: everything the same, except for the PRICE). A few months (if I am not mistaken) before the announcement of the new product, Pfizer started giving away “SULIT CARDs” (privilege cards) to patients, through the doctors. A card holder is entitled to a 50% discount, a non-cardholder, to no discount at all. 50% is a BIG discount, though the price gap between the two drugs is still wide.

NORVASC, AMVASC, LET ME ASK

I really should not be bothered in terms of finances because my immediate family members are covered by our excellent medical insurance provider (post retirement coverage, my dears), but reality sinks, and it sinks deep. I rebel for the many others. On behalf of the millions of Filipinos who are on maintenance, who remained quiet, but never dared question, LET ME ASK the whys, the hows, the whos, the whose, the whens. Why can the manufacturers not simply lower the price by 50%, across the board? And why only now? How long should the lower price have been made possible? How many billions of pesos have been racketed off from the poor Filipino, whose only wish is to live longer? It seems to me that for a long time, Filipinos have been duped! Besides, until now, a large number of Filipinos, find it difficult to shift to the cheaper drug simply because of the frame of mind created by “teh hypertension drug”.

I read that finally, PITC has been allowed to import Norvasc from Pakistan come June, where Norvasc costs only about P6 (5 mg) and about P9 (P10). Until then, the Filipinos continue to be duped.

Comments

29 Responses to “Norvasc, Amvasc, Let Me Ask”

Kyels on January 29th, 2007 8:48 pm

It’s no fun to take medication every day … I know what it’s like because my Mommy has to do so.

But it’s true, prevention is definitely better than cure.
pining on January 30th, 2007 4:15 am

Hi sexymommy I know what you mean, both my parents are hypertensive, only, my father suffered the most.. he had a stroke; now he’s paralyzed for life, I have to send them about £100 (about P9000) /month just for his medication. But what about some people who can’t afford it? The price of these medicine is more than enough to cause hypertension!
snglguy on January 30th, 2007 8:33 am

Ugh! It makes me shudder to think how much I’m spending monthly for my Mom’s meds, especially on Norvasc. Do you realize that the prices of our meds here are comparable to that of the first world countries’? I blame the government for being such a slave to the whims of those multi-national drug companies.

India at least, has imposed tight control on the prices of the drugs manufactured by the very same companies, that’s why it’s a LOT more cheaper to import them than purchase locally.

BTW, thanks for the visits to my blog.
Belle on January 30th, 2007 9:46 am

I feel for you. It is same dilema that our elderly are going through here. Reason why many people are buying medicines across the border or from other countries like India and Canada for a fraction of the cost. We even drove to the Mexican border once to avail of same brand yet cheaper medicines.

Actually, retired friends of ours are planning a trip in Mexico to buy 3-month supply of medicine and will up some for my hubby too.
vic on January 30th, 2007 9:48 am

My own elder brother succumbed to heart attack last march at a very young age of 62 (one day after his birthday) with all the medications, but already with previous two serious attacks.

Also one of the most important guide to consider for attention to hypertension is the Family History. We are all, the 7 of us in family including our in-laws under medication for hypertension. The only remaining brother in the Phillippines with his wife, spend the minimum of 15 thousands in their medication, whereas the four of us here are covered by our excellent health care and the cost of prescription medications are not as expensive as that in the Philippines.

I will cite here for example, the Hydrochlorothiazide tablets (diuretics) use to drain the salt by forcing the kidneys to drain it from the system cost almost negligible here (3 cents to 5 cents) and it is a very important part of Hyper treatment in combination with other drugs.

Also the ASA 81 mg., If not allergy and taken with food is a very good blood thinner and cost only a fraction of Plavex and will do the same job of prevention strokes and heart attacks if taken daily. Check with your doctors if ASA could be use as a daily maintenance.

Exercise, an hour of moderate, or half an hour of strenuous exercise and a sensible balance diet is the best defense for the Hypertension.

I, myself is taking four different medications for HT, including a daily dose of 81 mg enteric coated ASA and l2 mg (half a usual dose) of diuretic pills in combination with blood vessel relaxer Atacand and Adalat for Angina and BP reduction. It seems too much, but my doctor knowing the family history can not take changes and insist that I maintain my diet and keep exercising, the reason why I’m into ballroom dancing and even jives and all the other heavy movement number just to have a compulsory exercise and have fun at the same time. Remember you only got one heart. Take very good care of it..
Sexy Mom on January 30th, 2007 10:09 am

thanks for the feedback, Kyels, pining, snglguy, Belle, vic. that is exactly what i mean, we all have remained quiet, we have let them take advantage of us. at least for me and my immediate family members, we are fully covered by our excellent (thanks for the word, vic, and do take care of your heart) medical insurance, but i still feel bad.

God bless our hearts!
tin-tin on January 30th, 2007 1:02 pm

easy ka lang. puso mo. baka mapbili ka ng gamot na yan. sige ka! hehehe ;p
dimaks on January 30th, 2007 5:15 pm

Indeed, this is a post about hearts. Ailing hearts and caring hearts. Thanks sexy mom for these bright thoughts from the heart. Btw, I’m linking to your blog, if you don’t mind
ann on January 30th, 2007 6:30 pm

My mom is currently taking medication for her heart problem. P7000 out of her P8000 monthly pension goes to medicine. Sad to say she has no medical insurance.
analyse on January 30th, 2007 10:36 pm

thanks for this info, i have to tell this to my mom. my parents are into ‘preventive maintenance’ right now. good news that they could buy this drug at a lower price.

in fact, when they went here, they were surprised to see a lot of oldies who are still a-ok in terms of physical health and they understood that exercise is a big factor. now, they walk a lot (tho some tease them na kuripot daw, ayaw sumakay hehe) and that really rejuvenates them. now, they are into a healthy lifestyle and that keeps them from having hypertensions.

ps: i feel the same way. me thinks that everything is inaccessible for the common tao. everything is expensive, even education. pano na lang yung iba di ba. and when i express myself this way, i end up being regarded as kuripot. hay buhay. bat daw ako nagrereklamo e can afford naman… but do we really have to accept everything? i hate filipinos for being submissive…!
Alternati on January 31st, 2007 12:41 am

Gosh! I’ve never known medicine for hypertension cost THAT much! Both of my parents are hypertensive too.

BTW, I was reading your older posts… Belated Happy 27th Wedding Anniversary!
nao on January 31st, 2007 4:36 am

gladly, my mother & i don’t have that kind of ailment. nauubos pa nga ang cholesterol nya for taking care of my kids.. lol!
jef on January 31st, 2007 4:41 am

My dad has an hypertension and diabetes. Thank God, it is contolled now.

Because of his disease, I am now very careful with what I put in my mouth and try hard to add exercise to my weekly routine.

Thanks for the FYI!
KK on January 31st, 2007 11:07 am

My Papa has a slim build and runs 4 kms at least 3x a week but he still has hypertension. He is on maintenance drugs. Last year when I went home, I was so shocked when I went to the pharmacy… medicines and vitamins are sold at prices more than they are selling here in the US.

What makes Filipinos suffer from hypertension even if most of them are not obese?
Sexy Mom on January 31st, 2007 11:33 am

KK - the high price of medicines, i guess, is a contributing factor to HT (lol!)

jef – yes, we have to give our fair share, in terms of a healthy diet and exercise.

nao – we’re both blessed to have moms take care of our kids!

analyse – you see, “kuripot” is branding, even if you are not, even if your reason is otherwise, people will still see you as “kuripot”, he he he, so just let it be.

alternati – more so now, with both parents hypertensive, you have to be very careful

dimaks – thanks for the link. i, too, enjoy reading yours, and will link you.

ann – don’t you think it is cruel to spend almost all of the pension money for medicines?

tin-tin – am taking it easy, but really! there should be an explanation somewhere. my heart! my precious heart!
Daphne on January 31st, 2007 1:43 pm

Both my parents control their hypertension through daily maintenance dose. I think that the high cost of medicine in this country contributes to their high blood pressure. It makes me wonder when the time comes for my own heart to be medicated, how high would the cost of the pills be?
jeeper on January 31st, 2007 5:14 pm

My mom just learned she has hypertension. I guess your post is justin time considering my Mom’s medical condition.

Thanks for dropping by mine.
carey on January 31st, 2007 8:33 pm

hello tita dine,

i can relate with what you feel. it’s just so disgusting.

my mom is hypertensive too, and her daily maintenance is 2 tablets of Versant XR at about P19 each – its generic name is Felodipine and is manufactured by Unilab too. incidentally, AstraZeneca’s equivalent tablet Plendil costs much more at about P39 each. the latter accused Unilab of patent infringement when it launched the generic equivalent. imagine how much is the savings for a year for those patients taking this daily. big thanks to Unilab talaga.

“Here is a comparative study of an antiulcer drug by GlaxoSmithKline, one of the most dominant multinational pharmaceutical firms in the world today: In India 100 tablets of Zantac cost $2, in Thailand $37, in Sri Lanka $55 and in the Philippines $63.”
you can read more about this here (http://pharmawatch.blogspot.com/2004/04/astrazeneca-are-now-boasting-that-by.html)
midnight rainbow on February 5th, 2007 7:10 am

Loved the post and the comments!

I hope you can talk to your MDs about the rising cost of meds because I always do that. There’s a lot of antihypertensive meds out there – way cheaper than the “branded” ones.
Kyle on February 6th, 2007 3:12 pm

Just went to see a doc today bec my BP rose to 185/110 last night… and I was on BP meds! I begged hin to give me a cheaper drug and he gave me amvasc.. he said its just like Norvasc. I did a google for it and one of the first hits I got was your webpage.

Lots of folks here say, my mom/dad has it… w/c makes me depressed bec Im only 37.

I was first diagnosed w/ “mild hypertension” when I was still single, when I was 29. I was given meds but I was stubborn, I took it for a while but I was determined not to be enslaved by taking meds every day for the rest of my life. I was too young, I reasoned. So I tried watching my diet and some exercise.

Over the years, my BP fluctuated from borderline to normal to high.. I switched from one meds to another. I was ok with Norvasc, but I asked for a cheaper brand. I was given Cozaar. Later, I found that they have a cheaper alternative, Lifezaar. So I switched to that too.

Then a relative abroad kept sending me meds w/c she got for free… Cozaar, Hyzaar, Micardis. The first one was ok, since that had the go signal of my doc. But the latter two I did on my own, “self-medicating” myself.

And despite the positive reviews of Micardis I read online, apparently its not enough to lower my BP.

So now I seekd professional advice and given some meds w/c I gues I will have to take religiously from now on.

The point of all of this is, avoiding the high cost of meds would sometimes lead us to these things. “Hey, this is cheaper”, “Hey, I got this for free”.

Some doctors have been accussed of prescribing more expensive brands bec they have some sort of commission allegedly. I dont know how true this is, but Im grateful to those doctors who are understanding and help out their patients by giving them affordable meds. (Even giving me some free samples!)

I echo everybody’s call for lower meds and I commend United Labs for spearheading this. Hopefully, other companies will follow suit.
Sexy Mom on February 6th, 2007 10:45 pm

Kyel, don’t fret, you are not alone. there are so many young people like you. looking at the positive side, it is good that you are aware of your situation and you are doing something about it. but please, please, take your maintenance meds religiously. i also suggest that you get a doctor with whom you can talk openly about it, one who you can call anytime, and one whom you trust. self medication when it comes to heart is a NO NO.

i searched google, and you are right – my post currently ranks first for amvasc.
Sexy Mom on February 6th, 2007 10:50 pm

thanks, midnight rainbow and carey – that’s very informative to our dear readers.

Daphne and jeeper – every now and then, do take a random check of your bp, with both parents hypertensive, it’s good to watch out and try to avoid being stressed out (yes, dears, it is possible) and the foods that cause HT.
Dean Jorge Bocobo on February 25th, 2007 12:08 am

Suppose we allow parallel importation from India of Norvasc. Suppose further that we get fake or inferior versions of Norvasc flooding the market and selling at that lower price. Apart from the obvious public health disaster, who do we sue? And what would their ability to pay liability be? What might the added cost of regulation-cum-corruption (inevitable) be, including when unscrupulous importers try to negotiate “buy-me-out” deals from Pfizer?

Everytime I run into laws that will supposedly make things cheaper, some other unforeseen problems arise that actually make the problems worse.

The “Cheaper Meds Bill” strikes me as one of these. There just ain’t any free lunch. The only way is for us to get the generic drugs industry going for real. Locally, not in India.
Sexy Mom on February 25th, 2007 12:23 am

thanks, DJB…you pose a legitimate question and a reasonable suggestion. Bottomline is government should have a serious commitment in lowering the cost of ALL medicines. do we see it coming?
Norvasc Patent Expiring: Will hypertensive Filipinos finally get the much deserved financial relief? : The D Spot on June 1st, 2007 4:28 am

[...] posted an article, named Norvasc, Amvasc, Let Me Ask, on 29 January 2007, in the hope that I would be enlightened on why hypertensive medicines continue [...]
richard b. asuncion on July 31st, 2007 11:26 am

may I ask what are the side effects in taking amvasc. i am hypertensive guy and my doc prescribed norvasc. ive been using it for sometime now and most of the time i experienced dizziness, low sex drive and vertigo. please advice me thanks and god bless.
odree on September 26th, 2007 3:06 pm

True that manufacturers of the same generic may differ in price because first and foremost..like in the case of norvasc, being the originator brand they have the right to price their meds higher because they have lots of resources invested in the research and study of the generic of that drug for it to be developed and promoted in the pharmaceutical market..Being in this business one has to invest and also profit… this explains why there are differences in prices.
Aside for this important factor, things also considered are the raw materials and its sources. Depending on the sources prices may also differ and this spells out the differences in quality…
daniel reyes on October 22nd, 2007 8:42 pm

please give other drugs which are cheaper that works like lozartan potassium (lifezar) thanks
Mon Sagullo on June 2nd, 2008 4:54 pm

I have been on Norvasc for so many years, and like most Filipinos, I recently shifted to Amvasc, though I had to take it twice a day, since this brand is still limited to its 5mg. formulation.

Aside from your observation that “puwede naman palang 50% less ang presyo,” the other fly on the ointment is Doctors are not encouraged by Pfizer to advertise to their patients about this discount card. You have to ask for it. And I did. Only so, because my “suking drugstore” told me about it when I kept jibbing them, “how do you expect my BP to stabilize with this cost of my medications?”

It is sad to note that in a country where most people can barely afford those expensive medicines, our leaders are not even lifting a finger to remedy this ASAP, and worst, they slapped the e-vat for a lifesaving medication like Amvasc.