Healthcare Hullabaloo: Pee-flation

Inflation is a fact of life. Most things get more expensive as time goes by. This is especially true in the world of Health Care. And inflation can be found in the most unusual of places.

Consider, if you will, the world of vitamins and supplements. As a long-time proponent of nutritional supplements, I have had to endure the same mantra over and over again from the medical community and its’ minions. It has been explained to me, ad nauseum, that the human body does not store excess vitamins, but passes them out immediately. It was therefore foolish and wasteful for anyone to take vitamin supplements. Almost every doctor I have ever discussed this with had the same contrite saying on the subject:

“All you are doing is making expensive urine”

Regardless of this medical advice, I have continued to take vitamins and supplements over the years. Maybe my urine was more expensive then most, but it wasn’t that expensive. By ordering my supplements via mail order, I was able to purchase them for very little money. Besides, I thought, what do Doctor’s know? Even they admit that they are licensed only to “practice” medicine. Hey Doc - give me a call once you get this medicine thing worked out and you’re done practicing.

Another benefit of using supplements is that they made me feel good about myself. Maybe I don't drive a fancy car or live in an expensive house, but at least I could wee wee like Warren Buffet.

Over the years, it seems that the medical outlook on supplements was starting to ease off. Pediatricians started recommending vitamin supplements for their patients. Expectant Moms were ordered to take pre-natal vitamins. It slowly became medically acceptable for certain patients to have expensive pee.

As the years passed, more and more articles were published extolling the benefits of nutritional supplements, but these were usually dismissed by medical professionals. Research not performed by a big Pharmaceutical Corporation could not be relied upon. Often, these articles were seen as yellow journalism.

Fast forward to the present age, and it seems that it’s now OK to use certain supplements. In 2010, prescription Fish Oil tablets were all the rage. Now, in 2011, the big push is on for Prescription Vitamin D supplements.

The key word thus far is “Prescription”. The same supplements that I have been using for years are now being produced by Big Pharm and marketed through Medical Offices – at a cost often 10-20 times what the same dosage would cost you – without a prescription – from a mail order supplier.

It seems to me that, thanks to Big Pharm, a lot of people are making REALLY Expensive Urine. I’m talking Tinkle that is worthy of Tiffany's.

Even with a prescription plan, the co-payment for these prescription supplements id going to be 3-4 times higher than the cost of buying the equivalent dosage mail order.

The bottom line? If you are buying prescription supplements, you’re just pissing your money away. And contributing to health care inflation at the same time.

And that’s just flushing your money down the toilet.

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