Michigan Politics
Drug Prices Vary Widely in Michigan
By George Weeks

Puzzled by how prices vary for gallons of gas depending on what station pumps them? That's nothing compared to huge discrepancies on prescription drugs depending on who peddles them.

Politicians tend to overstate when they announce results of their own efforts and their calls for action by others. But Attorney General Mike Cox seemed on target last week when he:

+ Proclaimed that his investigation of drug prices "revealed staggering cost differences between identical prescription drugs across the state, including price differences of more than $100 within a community for the same dosage of the same drug."

+ Called, as he did in releasing survey results a year ago, for the Department of Community Health (DCH) drug-price Web site (www.michigandrugprices.com), which now only provides information for 30 drugs, to list at least 150 as do such states as Minnesota, New York, and New Jersey.

Cox said the DCH site lacks information on drugs used to treat common diseases such as diabetes, osteoporosis, cancer, and Alzheimer's. That's quite an information gap even in the current budget crunch, especially considering that Cox said he would provide funding from a settlement he won.

"It's a tragedy that Michigan does not have a broad-based, userfriendly, interactive drug cost Web site," said Cox, who has been jousting with the Granholm administration on a number of fronts.

Announcing his May 7 to May 11 survey of 200 pharmacies in 10 different communities on 11 commonly prescribed drugs that do not appear on the DCH site, Cox said a consumer in Detroit "could pay as much as $102 more for the identical prescription drugs only a matter of miles apart, a consumer in Traverse City could pay as much as $128 more for identical drugs, and a consumer in Lansing could pay as much as $98.99 more."

While Cox's release did not specifically mention his 20-store Upper Peninsula survey (mostly in the Marquette area), AG spokesman Rusty Hills said there generally was less disparity in prices above than below the bridge.

The mean price of the drugs is slightly lower in the U.P. than in Traverse City on all but one of the 11 drugs surveyed.

Some anomalies in the telephone survey: Cox recorded the Traverse City Kmart price for Plavix at $30, while 18 other pharmacies in the city were at $100- plus on the survey day. In the same city, the price for Effexor at four Rite Aid stores was $138.99, but $98.99 at its fifth outlet.

While Cox cited differences of $20 or so on $170-plus prices of Ambien in Detroit and Traverse City, my neighborhood pharmacist (whose company comes out well on the survey) says Ambien "just went generic."

However pricing is parsed within and among communities, Cox is right in calling for the DCH drug pricing Web site to expand its listing "so that Michigan consumers can spend their healthcare dollars more effectively. This information can help seniors, the uninsured, the underinsured, and consumers save money immediately. According to states that have broad-based drug cost Web sites, consumers saved an average of $17.36 per prescription."

Results of the Cox drug survey are available at www.michigan. gov/ag.

Michigan Week

As proclaimed by Governor Jennifer Granholm, this is Michigan Week, which since 1954 has been "a time to embrace, explore, and celebrate everything that sets our state apart as an ideal place to live, work, and raise a family."

One of the aspects of Michigan Week is the Library of Michigan's Notable Books promotion. This year's top 20 abounds with northern Michigan writers and subjects, including books by authors Jim Harrison, Gloria Whelan, and Anne-Marie Oomen.

Subjects include a novel set in Prohibition-era Charlevoix, an exploration of the mystery behind "Michigan's Largest Mass Murder" (a 1913 trampling incident in Calumet), stories about an Ojibway community in northern Michigan, and a political biography about ex-Governor Bill Milliken.

Details are available at www.michigan.gov/notablebooks.

George Weeks retired last year after 22 years as political columnist for The Detroit News. His weekly Michigan Politics column is syndicated by Superior Features.