Shingles Vaccine - a prescription ?

[my5cents]

Ok... There have been topic on the cancellation of "store rewards programs" for prescription medication.

I've got an interesting one.

As we get older, (they say once your reach 60) if you've had chicken pox, (which is most of us from back before vaccines for same) you are at risk of developing shingles.

The shingles vaccine, called "Zostavax II" is NOT obtained by prescription and is NOT covered by most medical plans.

The definition in most dictionaries defines "prescription" as a drug that can be obtained only my means of a physician's prescription.

My wife was vaccinated on Friday.

The costs ?

Zostavax - $198.21
Injection - $20.00
Dispensing - $10.60

If I go to the pharmacist and ask for a bottle of something that is kept behind the counter, he gets it and hands it to me and I pay the price on the bottle. I don't pay a "dispensing fee", because the medication (lets say Tylenol with codeine) is not a prescription medication.

Zostavax is not a prescription medication. My wife did NOT have to see her physician to get a prescription, she just had to ask at the pharmacy.

So shouldn't she have not paid the $10.60, and shouldn't she get the reward points (or whatever) just like she would if she had purchased Tylenol ????

I thought this was outrageous so I checked the bill for when I got my shingles vaccine a few years ago, and at a different pharmacy, I paid a dispensing fee, the injection fee and for the medication. Just like my wife did this time.

Anyone else come across this ?

[Bsuds]

Considering it's less than 50% effective and according to my Dr closer to 30% I've decided to not get it.
Pretty expensive for something with that kind of a success rate.

[busterbear]

Pharmacies are no longer offering rewards or points on perscriptions.
This is a new regulation apparently.

[GordonH]

Pharmacies are no longer offering rewards or points on perscriptions.
This is a new regulation apparently.

The group to vent any anger towards on this is BC College of Pharmacist
http://bc.ctvnews.ca/no-more-reward-poi ... -1.2756784

many low income people/famlies used the points collected for items normally not purchased.

[my5cents]

Pharmacies are no longer offering rewards or points on perscriptions.
This is a new regulation apparently.

Yes I'm aware.

My point was that if the product I am buying isn't something I need a prescription to obtain, then it is NOT a prescription. If it is not a prescription then the selling/buying of same should not involve a dispensing fee nor the ban on rewards and points for prescriptions.

[the truth]

costs waaaaay less and works even better http://www.life-saving-naturalcures-and ... ngles.html

[Gone_Fishin]

Considering it's less than 50% effective and according to my Dr closer to 30% I've decided to not get it.
Pretty expensive for something with that kind of a success rate.

My doc said >70% effective, so I got it. After watching some family members suffer excruciating pain years after having shingles, I'll do whatever it takes to avoid it.

[Fancy]

My point was that if the product I am buying isn't something I need a prescription to obtain, then it is NOT a prescription. If it is not a prescription then the selling/buying of same should not involve a dispensing fee nor the ban on rewards and points for prescriptions.

Interesting question. Did some reading and came across this that may be of interest:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fniah-spnia/pubs ... ex-eng.php

From the little I read, it seems the dispensing fee might be for the needle itself. I may be wrong though.

[Fancy]

On a sidenote:

In clinical trials, GSK's Shingrix has shown greater protection for older recipients than what has been demonstrated by Merck & Co's rival Zostavax vaccine. The drug is one of GSK's biggest new product hopes. It plans to file for U.S., European and Japanese approval this year, and the vaccine could reach the market in 2017.

The latest four-year data on Shingrix, which appears in the New England Journal of Medicine, shows it may also provide an additional significant advantage by maintaining its effectiveness over time.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2016/09/1 ... study.html

[the truth]

ya
glaxosmithkline would never lie about there vaccines

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/glaxosmit ... -1.1257287

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_l ... ettlements

[Fancy]

That has nothing to do with the study regarding the shingles vaccine nor the topic.

[the truth]

sure it does, they would never lie lol lol

[Fancy]

The shingles vaccine does not require a prescription and there seems to be limited information regarding why there are dispensing fees associated with it. I'm assuming it's not self-administered and that might be another reason why there is such a fee.