{"id":52641,"date":"2025-08-07T18:37:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T18:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/52641\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T18:37:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T18:37:07","slug":"doctor-exposes-shocking-disparity-in-medicine-costs-between-the-us-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/52641\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor exposes shocking disparity in medicine costs between the US, Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

A doctor <\/a>has exposed the shocking reality for Americans who are forced to pay up to tens of thousands of dollars for vital medicines that some Aussies fork out less than $10 for.<\/p>\n

Doctor Michael broke down the price discrepancies between five common medications in the United States, Australia and Scotland to his more than 500,000 followers on TikTok.<\/p>\n

Watched more than 2.7 million times, he started the video on a salbutamol inhaler, a puffer for asthma sufferers, costing about A$10, while it is US$50 in the states.<\/p>\n

A doctor has revealed the shock costs of five common medicines in the US, Australia and Scotland<\/a>. <\/p>\n

One medication will set back Americans up to $84,500. <\/p>\n

A doctor has revealed the shock costs of five common medicines in the US, Australia and Scotland. Nikish H\/peopleimages.com \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Atorvastatin, a medication to lower cholesterol and prevent cardiovascular disease, is priced as little as A$6.70 for 30 tablets in Australia, compared to US$2,628 for Americans.<\/p>\n

Next was Omeprazole<\/a>, used for treating stomach acid, heartburn and reflux, costs A$6 in Australia and up to US $326 in the US.<\/p>\n

While Azithromycin, an antibiotic to treat bacterial infections, can set Americans back US$155, while many Aussies pay just A$7.70.<\/p>\n

However, the biggest shock was Sofosbuvir<\/a>, which treats hepatitis C, with a 12-week treatment roughly costing an eyewatering US$84,000 without insurance and discounts.<\/p>\n

It equates to about US$1,000 a tablet, multiple US health websites reported.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, it costs about $31 for a packet of 28 in Australia on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme <\/a>(PBS).<\/p>\n

Americans are facing much higher costs. <\/p>\n

There are no costs involved for all five medications mentioned in Scotland, Dr Michael said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh my god,\u201d he said in reaction to the five-figure cost.<\/p>\n

\u201cSee, in Scotland and Australia there\u2019s a socialist healthcare system<\/a> which means that the government subsidises the cost of medications.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commenters from around the world were left shocked.<\/p>\n

\u201cAussie here, happy to pay extra tax to know that everyone can get medical care. It\u2019s a human right ffs,\u201d one person said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerica is one gigantic scam,\u201d added another.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople in Australia cry over tax we have to pay,\u201d added a third. \u201cOn the other hand, free hospitals, cheap medicine, cheap doctors, family tax benefit, aged care, unemployment benifits, aged pension, carer payments, meternity leave, farm house allowances, disability support, youth allowance. The list goes on. Australia looks after its citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

The medical practitioner\u2019s video came after President Donald Trump threatened a 200 percent tariff on <\/a>imported drugs, one of Australia\u2019s largest exports to the US.<\/p>\n

The medical practitioner\u2019s video came after President Donald Trump threatened a 200 per cent tariff on imported drugs, one of Australia\u2019s largest exports to the US. Tyler Olson \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

The commander-in-chief this week warned he may hike it a further 50 per cent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be putting (an) initially small tariff on pharmaceuticals, but in one year, one-and-a-half years, maximum, it\u2019s going to go to 150 per cent,\u201d he said in a CNBC interview on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then it\u2019s going to go to 250 per cent because we want pharmaceuticals made in our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s fresh tariff threat<\/p>\n

It is feared President Trump\u2019s war on Big Pharma <\/a>could have monumental consequences in Australia that could see billions wiped from the economy and the PBS caught in the crossfire.<\/p>\n

However, The Australian Institute\u2019s chief economist, Matt Grudnoff, urged caution and argued the leader of the free world himself was likely unsure of what he is going to do on pharmaceutical tariffs \u201cyet\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the numbers he throws around, we know that even after well over six months now of talk about tariffs, he really hasn\u2019t nailed down exactly what they\u2019re going to be anywhere. This is something that I think will be off in the future,\u201d Mr Grundoff told news.com.au.<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump has threatened to slap 250 per cent tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals, a $2.2 billion export of Australia. <\/p>\n

He also stressed American consumers will be hit harder than Australians if any tariffs were to be applied, but Mr Grudnoff said the timing of it could be around the US midterms.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Trump imposes tariffs that increase the price of medicines in the US right before the midterm elections\u2026 I can\u2019t see that happening for political reasons if nothing else,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that Republicans facing re-election will be very keen for that not to happen and also Trump has been\u2026 talking about decreasing medicine prices and (if) medicine prices go up, that might be quite difficult politically for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also stressed American consumers will be hit harder than Australians if any tariffs were to be applied, but Mr Grudnoff said the timing of it could be around the US midterms. bukhta79 \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

He said any levies on pharmaceuticals could have a \u201cslightly larger impact\u201d compared to other industries and affect some of the largest medicine companies in Australia.<\/p>\n

The Albanese government ruled out making changes to the PBS to appease President Trump who has been urged to overhaul the \u201cdiscriminatory\u201d scheme that \u201cundermines\u201d US exports.<\/p>\n

Any alteration to the system may drive up prices of medicines in Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be very clear, there seems to be very strong bipartisan policy in Australia (on) both sides that no, they\u2019re not going to use the PBS as a bargaining tool,\u201d Mr Grudnoff said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been no indication yet that the Australian government would reduce pharmaceutical tariffs for higher US drug prices in Australia. I think they\u2019d be crazy to do it. I don\u2019t think our trade with the US in pharmaceutical goods is anywhere near big enough to warrant the pain that would be caused in Australia by higher drug prices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both sides of government have ruled out any changes to the PBS amid President Trump\u2019s pharmaceutical tariff threat. Picture: NewsWire \/ Martin Ollman<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has previously said the PBS is \u201cnot up for negotiation\u201d.<\/p>\n

Last week the government introduced legislation to bring down the cap of eligible medicines on the PBS from $31.60 down to $25 from January 1 next year.<\/p>\n

Labor said it will save Australians about $200 million a year.<\/p>\n

PBS wait times a big concern, peak body warns<\/p>\n

The threat of President Trump\u2019s tariffs are less of a concern compared to the long wait times for medicines to be put on the PBS, a peak pharmaceutical research industry has said.<\/p>\n

Medicines Australia chief Liz de Somer warned Australians could die waiting for new life-saving medicines to be listed on the scheme<\/p>\n

Patients and advocacy groups say the complex process and excessive red tape involved is leading to unnecessary and long delays.<\/p>\n

Patients and advocacy groups say the complex process and excessive red tape involved is leading to unnecessary and long delays. Tiktok\/@drmichaelsays<\/p>\n

A report this week found the average wait time from when a medication is approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration to being listed is 22 months.<\/p>\n

It would see drugs costing hundreds to thousands of dollars drop to just over $30.<\/p>\n

\u201cPatients will die waiting for medicines to be listed,\u201d Ms de Somer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd this will have a far greater effect on the Australian system than anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

A review of the PBS system was completed by the Health Technology Assessment and handed to the federal government last year, making a series of recommendations to improve speed.<\/p>\n

Health Minister Mark Butler has said the review will help guide the Albanese government on future decisions on reform.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Albanese government is continuing to make medicines available to Australian patients faster and cheaper,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know patients want faster access to cutting-edge medicine and treatments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why our government is working through the recommendations of the HTA review, so Australians can get faster access to the best medicines and therapies, at a cost that patients and the community can afford.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A doctor has exposed the shocking reality for Americans who are forced to pay up to tens of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[49,48,1376,84,35691,16164,2098,377,2974,714,4992,883],"class_list":{"0":"post-52641","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-healthcare-gov","13":"tag-medical-care","14":"tag-medicare","15":"tag-medication","16":"tag-pharmaceuticals","17":"tag-politics","18":"tag-tariffs","19":"tag-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}