These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Wyeth-Ayerst to reduce U.S. price of Norplant implants, but not until December 1995. Family planners outraged.
    Journal: Contracept Technol Update; 1994 Jan; 15(1):1-3. PubMed ID: 12319213.
    Abstract:
    The manufacturer of Norplant implants, Wyeth-Ayerst, announced at a November 1993 congressional hearing of the House Small Business Subcommittee on Regulation, Business Opportunities, and Technology that it will reduce the price of Norplant, but not for two more years. The company's Medical Director and Vice President for Medical Affairs did not reveal the amount of the discount for public clinics. Opponents of the current pricing policy requested that the reduction go into effect immediately. US women pay considerably more for Norplant than those in other countries ($365 vs. $23-120). The reasons Wyeth-Ayerst gave for justifying its one price policy include: Norplant had to be accepted in the private sector before it could be accepted in the public sector; physicians would not be motivated to learn how to insert and remove Norplant and to familiarize themselves with it; and two-tiered pricing would encourage health maintenance organizations and insurance companies to deny women coverage and direct them to public clinic alternatives. Wyeth-Ayerst's reasons for justifying a higher price for Norplant in the US compared to a lower price in other countries were: Wyeth does not sell Norplant in any other country; Norplant sold outside the US is fundamentally different; the $23 price is offered only to a few developing countries; and training and support are crucial to the Norplant's success. Opponents of Wyeth-Ayerst's pricing policy assert that the company's arguments are inappropriate. Other than the donation of levonorgestrel, Wyeth-Ayerst did not contribute anything to Norplant's research and development. Funding came from the National Institutes of Health, USAID, and private foundations. The company has been misleading about the cost of the training program. It claims the cost is $1000/physician trained but, since they spend $20-25/kit, the actual cost is much lower.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]