Which Is More Upsetting?
(image courtesy of Harvest.org)
I want to run something by you. I do not normally do this, but I want to see your reaction. If you follow “Paul’s Heart”, you know I have a long list of health issues related to my treatments for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma over 35 years ago. These health issues continue to progressively get worse, and yes, some new ones even develop. On a recent visit with one of my doctors, as my cardiac concerns have once again increased, a new prescription was ordered. The drug is particularly intended to deal with congestive heart failure, which I was diagnosed with several years ago. The cost for the prescription for a 90-day supply as I will be on it long-term? With insurance, $863!
WHAT THE SERIOUS FUCK! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? THAT IS ALMOST AS MUCH AS I PAY FOR THE INSURANCE THAT ALLOWS ME TO SEE THE FUCKING CARDIOLOGIST THAT I DO!
So, the litmus test. Of course you know I very rarely if ever use curse words in my post unless I am quoting someone else. But seriously, which upsets you more right now, my choice of language? Or the situation of unaffordability of a life-saving drug for me?
The high cost of prescription drugs is nothing new. Big Pharm annually makes a huge haul at the patients’ expense. As patients, we are at their mercy if we want any chance of getting better. The thing that makes me go “hmmmmm” however, is that thirty-six years ago, when I was treated for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, my health insurance covered more, cost less, and I definitely do not remember not being able to afford anything the doctor had ordered, especially my chemotherapy.
I am just a little guy, and I do not want to put a bullseye on my back, so I will not mention the name of the drug, but let’s just say, it is new enough that there is no generic drug available, which means the Big Pharm company can charge as much as it wants to, and does, at least here in the United States. Last year, in an effort to provide some help for my congestive heart failure, another drug had been prescribed, and just as this current order, was even more expensive to me.
So I do what I do best, research. I go to the various drug discount web sites, but at best I could only get the price down by $150, the drug, along with all of the other prescriptions I take, still remained unaffordable. And then, just as I did last year, I reached out to the Big Pharm company, threw myself at their mercy, for their benevolence, in hopes they could help me afford their drug. Nope.
While my cost with insurance for this drug is $863, according to a Reuters report, the cost in other countries such as Australia, Japan, and Sweden are all under $40 for a 30-day supply for the same drug and Canada’s cost is $60. How is this possible? A drug company from the United States selling its drug to other countries with it costing me 2100% more.
So I ask you, which upsets you more, this price gouging or the fact that I used naughty words in this post? We should all be outraged by this. And while this is capatalism at its finest, greed at all cost and at the expense of the most vulnerable, there clearly will not be any help from our government as long as lobbyists of Big Pharm are able to do what they do. And to be clear, it has not mattered who has been president or which party. Big Pharm and Big Insurance do not want their profits reduced and their money in Washington talks louder than the cries of those who cannot afford their medicines.
There are those who would try to defend Big Pharm, that the need to take advantage of not having generics available to keep prices high is to encourage and enable future research. Here comes another bad word. BULLSHIT! Big Pharm CEO’s are making more now than ever, and Big Insurance is no better. And besides, what good is any research if the treatments you make are out of reach financially to the patients who need the medicines.
Again, to be clear, this has been the situation no matter which president has been in office. But it is the current president’s attempt to make us think he is going to make the pricing better for everyone, that just does not make any sense. In a letter to 17 major companies, he wants drug prices slashed 1500% (which is mathematically impossible), and to do so, has threatened a 250% tarriff on pharmacueticals, which we know will get paid by the patients. And his demands are to make companies raise their prices for that same drug I need in other countries, not lower them here. We are supposed to believe if we are making other countries pay higher, then somehow that makes it fair to us. And if you think generics will help impact the costs with this type of action, guess again. Generic drugs will not only go up, but likely face shortages, again, to keep the profits margins for Big Pharm. We should begin to see the impact from the 15% tarriffs on the EU soon, and any pricing increases which would prove what will happen should a 250% tarriff be implemented.
The solution for me would be simple, find a way to import the drug from Canada, or Australia, but then our country does its best to discourage this by claiming the drugs could be unsafe, ineffective, or improperly marketed. I am not at the desperate point in my health yet, but if the time came, if my country were not going to help me, I most certainly would trust Canada or Australia. What would be my alternative?
I have found what I need in Canada, and with the assistance of some fellow survivors, I have figured out “how.” Now, the race against the clock and the 250% tarrif set to take effect on August 29th. The difference between $102 for the actual cost, and then me, not the country shipped from, not the manufacturer, ME!, if I want my delivery I will have to pay $257 in the tarrif. Yeah, that will teach Big Pharm a lesson. And the lesson is this, instead of Big Pharm making the profit off of a patient, now it will be my own government. But, by me paying less for the prescription, that actually does take away the profit from Big Pharm, in theory, forcing them to raise their prices internationally if they want to compete.
I try to keep politics off of this page at all costs. But the costs of prescription meds are now becoming a matter of life and death. Two years in a row, I have been prescribed a drug for my congestive heart failure, to attempt to help restore some of my heart function, and I cannot afford them, and it will be years before an affordable generic comes out (which of course will lower the cost of the original drug – see? They can do it if they want to!). All I can do at this point is what I have been doing, managing with diet, and any exercises that my body will allow me to do. Tarrif or not, if I can get the prescription cheaper than here, I will do what I have to.
Yes, I am fucking frustrated. But don’t be upset how I express that frustration, rather, be upset as to the reason.
Paul's Heart 