Dora S.
Yelp
I had an odd experience the other day, and it seems to me it isn't the first time I''ve atleast suspected that someone at Peoples' Pharmacy was outright lying; certainly this is not my first very off experience with them. Customers should also be aware that their pricing structure is ridiculous, unless they want to pay for something else, like the new-age hand holding.
I was comparative shopping for compounded vaginal estradiol cream. I phoned Peoples Pharmacy on North Lamar, Medsavers, and a place in San Marcos I heard of by word of mouth. The results:
Place in San Marcos: $45 for 100g of a particularly popular formulation that resembles Estrace; otherwise, $45 for a two month supply.
Medsavers: $40 to $45 for 15 g; about a month to 30 day supply, no matter what form or strength estradiol cream my doctor prescribed. If I were loaded with money I could have gotten a 3 month supply for $70 to $90. (Medsavers is usually though not always the cheapest place in Austin to get any prescription drug that is not covered by your insurance. I also heard excellent things from my doctor about the base they use for their estrogen creams.)
Peoples Pharmacy: $56 for a 1 month supply, no matter how much, what dose or what strength my doctor prescribed, and then when I clarified this, it would be $56 for the next month, and so on. When I expressed my views on that, the pharmacy employee I was talking to told me "That's how it is in compounding".
A typical prescription for estrogen cream is for a prefilled quantity such as 30 g and lasts the typical woman three months
Not only is this highway robbery, but that clearly is NOT how it is in compounding. Clearly most pharmacies that do compounding, which is an increasing number of them, charge based on the amount. Peoples Pharmacy certainly knows that, or should, and it's a bald faced lie intended to deceive the customer. It was also quite stupid. It was clear to the person I was speaking with that I already knew better.
I told Peoples Pharmacy. I won't be doing business with them. Then I told my sister, who is an avid customer of theirs, the entire story. Then I wrote to an executive director of my health insurance, which covers both premarin and estrace at $500 for 30 grams and would save money by covering the more effective and far cheaper compounded creams, and told her the price structures all three pharmacies gave me, as well as that I "more politely" told Peoples Pharmacy to "jump in the lake", so whatever else happens I think Peoples Pharmacy won't benefit from it.