I hate greed

Today I was running one case after another for open enrollment. Med lists blurred and my calculator keep going to work out which plan would be better per patient. Then I came to a total and complete stop.

I ran the plan for an 84 year old woman. She is a regular and last year had all generics. She still has most of those generics but she has added a cancer medication she takes once a day. When the numbers came up it showed this cancer medication for 30 tablets having a cash cost of $115,000! Yes, I did put the decimal point in the right place. Her current plan had her paying $77,000 in prescription drug costs for 2021. It was the worst drug cost I have ever seen.

My heart stopped then I started looking I to ways to help her with the medication. The pharmaceutical company that makes the medication said they cannot help people on Medicare. I found an open fund but it has a maximum amount of $11,000.

Feeling sick to my stomach, I called the patient. I started the call asking her how she paid for the cancer medication. She told me her insurance company paid some, then a state fund paid some, then a foundation paid the rest. I know setting this all up cost significant time. I know someone perhaps a social worker help her do this.

As a pharmacist, I am aware that research and development takes time and money. I also know some of the research is happening through grants from NIH through colleges and universities. That said, if you look at the salaries and perks of pharmaceutical higher ups, I must question. Why does anyone in our country have to wonder how much their life costs and if their treatment will bankrupt them. That’s immoral. Especially when you look into what Salk sold the Polio vaccine for and look at how much the three developers of insulin earned way back in the early 1900s. I mean it was 120 years ago so maybe a buck was worth more.