Price Switch Puts Prescription Drug For Premature Babies Out Of Reach For Some

A prescription drug for premature babies is a little harder to come by these days for some thanks to a new price tag.

Caffeine citrate treats potentially deadly sleep apnea in infants.

“It’s very expensive,” said Pharmacist Daniel Soto of ‘Sun Drugs’ in El Paso’s lower valley. “I’d say it’s $300 to $400 for the name brand.”

Soto told ABC-7 caffeine citrate was selling for $50 to $60 dollars just a year ago.

So what changed?

Well, pharmacists used to be able to mix the drug themselves, a process known as ‘compounding.’

But then a ready-made, manufactured version of caffeine citrate – under the brand name Cafcit – hit the market.

“State law says whenever a commercially-produced drug becomes available, then compounded drugs at a pharmacy are no longer able to be dispensed,” explained Margaret Althoff-Olivas, spokeswoman for University Medical Center.

Althoff-Olivas told ABC-7 the county hospital had to stop mixing its own caffeine citrate, too.

But Soto says Cafcit is not covered by Medicaid, making the drug out of reach for many low-income parents in the borderland.

“They can’t afford the name brand,” he said. “It happens very often.”

Still, Althoff-Olivas said there is reasoning behind the state law.

“(Because) there’s this pharmacy, that pharmacy and this pharmacy down on the corner, there could be some variability in the results of that compound,” she said.