All of a sudden update

[formariz 11,987]

Thank you everyone for the well wishes and words of hope. Luckily the best of care is indeed available to me. It does not however change the fact that this poor woman who relies on me as her caregiver while her struggles get worse every week now has this on her mind constantly. It destroys her not for that fact ,but now she feels guilty that she may not even be able to take care of me eventually.  It weighs heavily on her mind and she is inconsolable of that possibility. 
I am not a worrier , but of course now the possibility that she may be left alone in such situation also weighs heavily on me. It’s a situation that I now have to learn to deal with in a manner that will allow us to live as normally as we can. Not a simple situation. 

[formariz 11,987]

Just now received call from Hackensack Cancer Center to schedule my appointment after they reviewed my records. So of course now they want their own tests which include  the same X-rays head to toe MRI, blood tests, 24 hour urine collection, etc. The insanity starts again. I may be able to be used as a good night light by the time this is done. 

[kpinnc 12,045]

1 hour ago, formariz said:

It weighs heavily on her mind

 

She is in our prayers as well! 

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,330]

Stay positive my friend. Prayers for you and the family!

[davem1111 2,030]

44 minutes ago, formariz said:

Just now received call from Hackensack Cancer Center to schedule my appointment after they reviewed my records. So of course now they want their own tests which include  the same X-rays head to toe MRI, blood tests, 24 hour urine collection, etc. The insanity starts again. I may be able to be used as a good night light by the time this is done. 

 

"Insanity" is a good word for that.  Our health "care" system is seriously messed up.... 

 

Good luck - hope it's not too bad.

[rmaynard 15,459]

1 hour ago, davem1111 said:

Our health "care" system is seriously messed up...

 

In some cases I would agree, but overall it is the best in the world, evidenced by people from other counties coming here for care not available to them at home. Other than a lack of specialists in some areas, I have found that being on Medicare is the best health system that I have ever had. I have never been turned down for any procedure or test that my doctors call for. I have a different opinion of the Medicare Prescription drug plans though.

[dcrage 628]

3 hours ago, rmaynard said:

I have a different opinion of the Medicare Prescription drug plans though.

For some reason I have experienced a marked improvement in my drug coverage this year. My copays are 20-25% of the past couple of years. (Same insurance plan!!?) AND either sets of prices are so much better than the Retail price shown on stickers. Thank goodness for drug coverage!

[squonk 41,118]

I just started on Medicare this month. First scrip cost me $30 for a month's supply. Then I got 3 more filled. 90 day supply and they cost me $0 

[formariz 11,987]

7 hours ago, rmaynard said:

I have found that being on Medicare is the best health system

For the ones that are on Medicare. What happens to the ones not at that age and can’t afford the insurance rates.? In one month I racked up over $50,000.00. How is a young person supposed to pay for that?

Edited February 21 by formariz

[Handy Don 12,227]

5 minutes ago, formariz said:

How is a young person supposed to pay for that?

It is a heck of a dilemma but clearly Congress has not been at all interested in taking it on and, for sure there is no obvious solution.

[formariz 11,987]

3 hours ago, squonk said:

I just started on Medicare this month. First scrip cost me $30 for a month's supply. Then I got 3 more filled. 90 day supply and they cost me $0 

Just a fraction of what my wife takes in 90 days. Look at the bottom left of each what it costs if you have no insurance. Then look at the Manafacturer on the right and where it is made. Would you then like to see what the same medication made in the same place costs in Europe ?Less than the $60.00 we pay insured here. I don’t want to open Pandora’s box here but something smells rather foul . 

Edited February 22 by formariz

[dcrage 628]

My daughter and granddaughter both need a drug which retails at ~$10,000/month. Thank goodness again for coverage. This drug is another example of a limited (ie smaller) number of patients which allows for extend patent protection and a 2nd drug company bought the original producer and then jacked the $ charged way up. 

[rmaynard 15,459]

14 hours ago, squonk said:

I just started on Medicare this month. First scrip cost me $30 for a month's supply. Then I got 3 more filled. 90 day supply and they cost me $0 

It all depends on your prescription and the part D plan you picked.

[rmaynard 15,459]

13 hours ago, formariz said:

For the ones that are on Medicare. What happens to the ones not at that age and can’t afford the insurance rates.? In one month I racked up over $50,000.00. How is a young person supposed to pay for that?

I should have qualified my statement by saying, "Medicare is the best for me".

[JimSraj 429]

Depending on the drugs you are on the cost to you may be affected by the government being allowed to negotiate some drug prices now. 

[formariz 11,987]

1 minute ago, JimSraj said:

Depending on the drugs you are on the cost to you may be affected by the government being allowed to negotiate some drug prices now. 

Yes but why is it that the same drug made here costs an astronomical difference here compared to in another continent where it is imported to? That is the question that should be asked . We must be special . 

[JimSraj 429]

Do you suppose it might have to do with lobbyists?

[rmaynard 15,459]

43 minutes ago, formariz said:

Yes but why is it that the same drug made here costs an astronomical difference here compared to in another continent where it is imported to? That is the question that should be asked . We must be special . 

There are many answers to that. The biggest lie is that our drug companies must foot the bill for research and development. BS. I used to take Xarelto. $450 for 90 pills here, even with insurance it was $90 per month. Xarelto was approved for use by the FDA in 2011. I don't think that there is anymore research and development going on for that drug any longer. I started taking them in 2019 and was able to get free samples from the doctors. Then Covid hit, Xarelto was used to help clear pulmonary embolisms, so no more free samples. Went to Warfarin (Coumadin). Free. Patent was due to expire in 2021 for Xarelto, but they changed one small thing about it that allowed the patent to be renewed. So, no generic. If I want. I can buy Xarelto in Canada for $120 for 90 pills, and generic (made in India) for $65.

[formariz 11,987]

56 minutes ago, rmaynard said:

There are many answers to that

I would like to know what they are from truthful sources and not from our politicians or pharmaceutical companies. Not everyone here is gullible or has their heads bury in the sand. 

[SylvanLakeWH 25,557]

4 hours ago, JimSraj said:

Do you suppose it might have to do with lobbyists?

 

31 minutes ago, formariz said:

I would like to know what they are from truthful sources and not from our politicians or pharmaceutical companies. Not everyone here is gullible or has their heads bury in the sand. 

 

Follow the money... Both / all sides of the aisle have great incentives to keep things as they are. Plenty of money to go around to keep status quo.

 

Remember we just went through a massive health insurance reform nationwide that was going to fix much of this? Not...

 

Shuffled the chairs on the Titanic and shifted /created massive new revenue streams into an already bloated system... both sides of the aisle are reaping benefits, just from different special interests / constituents...or sometimes the same ones just playing both sides...

 

Sad...

[formariz 11,987]

1 hour ago, SylvanLakeWH said:

Sad

Shameful. Being taken for fools. Even my wife’s doctors ( same ones as Michael J. Fox’s) say they are embarrassed every time they go to a Parkingsons convention in Europe. They are much more advanced in the treatment because none of the medications are approved here such as the new implant that dispenses the medication. Meanwhile implant was invented here and it is manafactured here. 

[dcrage 628]

6 hours ago, rmaynard said:

There are many answers to that. The biggest lie is that our drug companies must foot the bill for research and development. BS. I used to take Xarelto. $450 for 90 pills here, even with insurance it was $90 per month. Xarelto was approved for use by the FDA in 2011. I don't think that there is anymore research and development going on for that drug any longer. I started taking them in 2019 and was able to get free samples from the doctors. Then Covid hit, Xarelto was used to help clear pulmonary embolisms, so no more free samples. Went to Warfarin (Coumadin). Free. Patent was due to expire in 2021 for Xarelto, but they changed one small thing about it that allowed the patent to be renewed. So, no generic. If I want. I can buy Xarelto in Canada for $120 for 90 pills, and generic (made in India) for $65.

The problem for the research (drug) companies is the successful products like Xarelto have to support not just Xarelto research but also all of the unsuccessful product attempts (and there are a lot of them). The “success rate” on this kind of stuff is maybe 1 out of 1000 and this involves very good jobs with lots of expensive capital used. The research companies would love to improve these odds and anyone who could figure how to do that would be a Nobel Prize winner. 

[rmaynard 15,459]

8 hours ago, dcrage said:

The problem for the research (drug) companies is the successful products like Xarelto have to support not just Xarelto research but also all of the unsuccessful product attempts (and there are a lot of them).

 

The global sales of Xarelto was $2,437,000,000.00 in 2022. That's a lot of "research" money, and that's just one drug from one company for one year.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 23 by rmaynard

[Handy Don 12,227]

Big Pharma earned its name.

It is an extremely complex assortment of science, health care, manufacturing, marketing, legal liabilities, and political environment/action. To me, it is a textbook, classic example of entrenched interests recognizing that any significant reduction in cost to consumers would cost them something they treasure--money or control. It is utterly incapable of self-repair and more than strong enough to fend off external “challenges."

[Mickwhitt 4,624]

This thread got me thinking back to my early days in the police.

We used to use black fingerprint ink to take the "dabs" of every person who came into custody, every single time, to prove it was them who were dealt with ( we had twins who would pretend to be each other and a lot of gypsy criminals with multiple identities hundreds in one case).

So on any given morning the youngest cop on duty would drop for printing half a dozen inmates prior to their court appearance. 

The criminal would obviously end up covered in sticky,  black ink. But the officer also got it all over their hands, plus the roller and ink plate needed cleaning. 

We had a huge brown glass bottle under the fingerprint table, ribbed back and a skull and cross bones sticker on the front. When finished we'd splosh out huge quantities of this vile smelling solvent onto the criminals hands, our own hands and the equipment to clean down. 

No thought of what it was, why it had to be stored in a poison bottle or any potential health problems. Just use plenty of it to get rid of the ink. 

I'm just hoping that I don't develop any issues that might be linked to the stuff. 

Similar thing with Motorola radios, we always rode in the patrol car with them gripped between our legs right next to the family jewels. We heard from the USA that quite a few cops had developed testicular cancer from all the radio energy. The result?  You must put the radio in your breast pocket instead.