Can you spell "gouge"?

Can you spell gouge?
I thought you could.

Even as drug makers promise to support Washington’s health care overhaul by shaving $8 billion a year off the nation’s drug costs after the legislation takes effect, the industry has been raising its prices at the fastest rate in years.

In the last year, the industry has raised the wholesale prices of brand-name prescription drugs by about 9 percent, according to industry analysts. That will add more than $10 billion to the nation’s drug bill, which is on track to exceed $300 billion this year. By at least one analysis, it is the highest annual rate of inflation for drug prices since 1992.

The drug trend is distinctly at odds with the direction of the Consumer Price Index, which has fallen by 1.3 percent in the last year.

Hmmm...

Himself has had a sudden, localized instance of eczema which is, at worst, annoying.

Now, eczema on virtually my entire body, so severe that sometimes a splash of water makes me scream, (imagine alcohol on paper cuts -- and your entire body is covered with paper cuts,) is something I have dealt with on a continuous basis for my entire life.
(To give you an idea, last Christmas I played Mass wearing sweatsocks on my hands, with strategically cut holes -- and I still got a certain amount of blood on the keys.)
Anyway, on one of his regular trips to a dermatologist, (justified caution, melanoma,) he mentioned this new problem and was given a prescription.

Maybe this is something you ought to look into, Scelata, if it works.

Sure, Himself, let me know how it goes.

His insurance is better than mine, I am not about to drop in on a specialist for a chronic condition to hear the Same O' Stuff I've been hearing since I was five, (hydrate, moisturize, too-much-cortisone-bad,try this soap, avoid known allergens,) but yeah, if there's been a real advancement...

And Himself can try it out under a prescription plan that covers waaaay more than mine, so he can tell me if its worth it.

He walked out of the pharmacy white-faced.

$160.oo for a tiny spray can, enough to last three weeks, (since its only his hands, it would last me about a week.)

One hundred and sixty dollars.

WITH insurance.

So he's using it, but I'm not even going to ask if it works, it's irrelevant.