How Drugmakers Turn Cheap Generics Into An Expensive Remedy

Kendall Jack was dismayed when her health plan was changed so it no longer covered the migraine drug Treximet. To buy a pack at the pharmacy would cost $US750, compared with $US20 when the drug was covered.

“Nothing’s worth $US750 for nine pills,” she said. “It’s cruel.”

Instead, the 50-year-old stay-at-home mother from Memphis, takes Treximet’s two active ingredients — sumatriptan and ­naproxen — as separate pills. For these two generic drugs, the bill under her health insurance is zero.

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