Have you ever watched the movie “Dallas Buyers Club“? It tells the captivating story of Ron Woodroof, played by Matthew McConaughey, who discovers an innovative treatment for AIDS symptoms in the 1980s. The catch? This vital medication is unavailable in the U.S. Determined, Ron travels to Mexico to obtain the medicine, cleverly evading patent restrictions and skillfully smuggling it back to Dallas. His method of distribution is through the Dallas Buyers Club, which offers the medication for free to its members while charging a monthly membership fee of $400.
Now, imagine a similar initiative tailored for psychedelic medicine in Australia. Estimates suggest that a single course of psychedelic-assisted therapy Down Under could set you back anywhere between $10,000 and $30,000¹²³. Yet, if you zoom out of the Australian context, you’ll find that certain psychedelics are now fully legalized in Oregon and Colorado in the United States, Jamaica, Amsterdam as well as numerous other countries worldwide at a much lower cost.
The Transparent Company has already created a patient group, if you would like to join sign up here. This group functions as a patient union, leveraging collective strength to hold prescribers accountable through economies of scale. We are working to accumulate enough people to make bulk purchases of therapy and medicine to offer significant discounts to the end user, so if you haven’t joined already, please do so.
So how does this work?
Imagine a purely fictional character named John, residing in Sydney and grappling with depression, like 1 in 7 Australians. Having found conventional antidepressants ineffective, John is looking for access to psychedelic medicine. Given that substances like MDMA, Ketamine, and Psilocybin remain absent from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and Medicare, John’s only option is to explore the private market. However, a quick online search reveals a lack of transparent price information due to TGA regulations restricting prescribers from openly sharing such details. John proceeds to contact various clinics in Sydney and Melbourne, each offering unique protocols. This journey involves preliminary psychiatrist assessments, billed at a minimum of $200 per hour. Should he successfully navigate this process, he’d still be looking at a minimum cost of $10,000+ for a single treatment session¹.
This leads us to the pivotal question: can one legally source treatment elsewhere at a lower cost?
A cursory analysis reveals that the comprehensive price for a single dose of psychedelic therapy worldwide bottoms out at $2,500, while a week’s retreat, inclusive of the medicine, ranges from $2,000 to $5,000.
So, how might this concept be executed to provide more affordable access to psychedelic medicine in Australia?
Our patient group operates as a broker, accepting pre-bookings, and hunting for the most competitive prices based on collective volume. Our group maintains a transparent price list, engaging in confidential negotiations with suppliers for optimal deals. Indigenous supply would likely reach a price threshold that doesn’t fluctuate, making exogenous supply essential for competitive pricing. Knowing that proven, high-quality therapy can be legally sourced from a Jamaican or Dutch supplier can wield substantial negotiating power for price reduction of future indigenous therapy.
How could this vision come to life?
The system is already live, you can join our current patient cohort or have a look at current negotiated pricing here.
Who would qualify?
Eligibility would be determined by the most recent inclusion/exclusion criteria derived from scientific literature, including factors such as signed informed consent, age, the severity of depression, treatment history, and psychological and physiological factors.
If you are interested, you can confidentially pool your name here or get in touch and I will get in contact if we reach sufficient numbers.
References
¹ The Sydney Morning Herald, March 21, 2023. ‘It’s going to be for people with money’: Psychedelic treatments tipped to cost at least $25,000. https://www.smh.com.au/politic…
² Psychedelic Spotlight, May 11, 2023: https://psychedelicspotlight.c…
³ “It’s legal, but…” https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/its-legal-but/