Parents sue over son's asthma death days after inhaler price soared without warning

I hope the parents are awarded millions and millions.

[quote]the cost jumped from $70 to more than $500.

This is mindblowing. Surely setting the price of lifesaving medications needs to be tightly regulated and doing something like this be made illegal.

Luigi

Who did the parents vote for?

We’re all gonna die.

[Quote] We’re all gonna die.

That should be Luigi’s defense

We’ve got to get Luigi free somehow.

This story is happening every day all over the country.

My kids, my husband and I all suffer from long term COVID. As a result, we’ve developed all kinds of chronic ailments & now we are dependent on all kinds of medications.

I live in fear 24/7 that what happened to this poor kid will happen to someone in my family.

Have any DL-omites had such horrible surprises?

SO????

[quote]Have any DL-omites had such horrible surprises?

The DLers which have had similar horrible surprises can't answer you R7 because they're all dead.

Guess who!

UnitedHealth Group’s Optum Rx

We need 10,000 Luigis.

Republicans

Death cult

But Jake Tapper wrote a book about how OLD seeming Joe Biden was!

R4 Yeah, if we keep voting Democratic and keep them in power forever and make America effectively a one-party state and give them even less incentive to listen to the people and give the voters anything of value, surely they'll throw us a bone one day and make us sell fewer organs to afford healthcare, just like they did during their last administration. And the one before. That'll surely happen. Right?

As someone who relies on epipens that cost less than a quarter to make, but sell for $650, I can relate to this poor young man's story.

And DL is slipping! Over a dozen posts in and no one has commented on how nice-looking the young man was!

I moved to Spain a couple of years ago. I pay higher taxes, but I'm on national health insurance and get my epipens for free...

[quote]Optum also said three alternatives, each with a $5 copay, were available

I have asthma and I'd love to know where these $5 inhalers are.

R18, from the video in OP’s link.

Eventually there's going to be a violent revolution. Something is going to happen, the country is going to break

Was it in Cost Plus site?

Yes, r15 because there's so much evidence of that happening.

R15, what have Republicans done for you? Biden lowered prescription drug costs. Trump undid that

[quote]Was it in Cost Plus site?

The poor guy went to Walgreens. Cost Plus lists it at $157.54.

[quote]And DL is slipping! Over a dozen posts in and no one has commented on how nice-looking the young man was!

Jesus God in Heaven, why’d you have to take Cole’s hole?

American health system strikes again

Here in New Zealand these things are five bucks if I recall correctly, most medications are

Yeah I pay 10 bucks for my inhaler. I don’t have much hope for this US getting better if these ridiculously preventable deaths don’t get people out on the streets. Nothing will

Good. This is disgusting.

I have had prescriptions for one asthma inhaler (Ventoduo) and one similar effect Rx for a capsule that is punctured in a device and its powdered contents inhaled (Enerzair Breezhaler). The cost is €3.65 and €4 for each per month in Spain.

My farmacist always apologized for the high cost of the two meds, but she was incredulous when they were nothing compared to U.S. costs. We looked up the prices last fall and found that the same 2 Rx's were just under $400 each

This drug is available generically for less than $160. It's even less with Good RX. You can get it for $60 at CVS (of all places) with Good RX. Even at Walgreens, it's $111 with Good Rx

More likely Walgreens is the cause of his death. At the very least they should have told him that the formulary changed & that he could call his dr and have a less expensive medication called in. They should have offered to call the Dr. We don't know what happened, but it sounds like they didn't even offer to run it through Good Rx for him. That's criminal, even though it's not legally criminal

We also don't know what he did. They may have offered him help. He may have turned them down. Sometimes patients don't want other people's help. Most patients can't even be bothered helping themselves. Many people are truly fucking lazy.

There were 3 alternatives with a co-pay of $5.00. He didn't call his doctor immediately? his parents couldn't give him the $1,000 to him just for that month so he could immediately seek alternatives? The family sounds not too bright and fatally cheap. Plenty of people in the US have asthma in the US even middle class and poor people and they don't pay this kind of money. Yes what the Insurance company did was terrible but Walgreens and the family sound very stupid. They look like the type who would sacrifice their son for a lottery win.

I'm Australian and every time I read one of these US health care horror story threads I die inside. I don't know why Americans aren't out rioting in the streets at the state of your entire country and systems.

“They didn’t call his Dr immediately?” R31 hahahaha as if getting time with a Dr was as easy as picking up the phone and dialing their number

Some people may be able to consult with a helpful pharmacist and reach their doctor by phone and then be able to get that doctor to agree to another call to discuss alternatives with the helpful pharmacist.

And some pigs may be able to fly.

It’s getting really bad. In January or February I made a July appointment for a check up with a new PCP. Then something came up that requires me to be out of town that week so I had to reschedule (over a month in advance). My new appointment is in November. This is my third PCP in four years because the other two quit their practices.

A year ago I had a stress fracture and knew what it was but it took a few tries to get it diagnosed because stress fractures don’t always show up on an X-ray. I was able to work through that hassle (even though I knew what it was after three days of swelling because I’ve had them before) because my employer has an on-site doc in a box that sent me to nearby places for blot clot tests, then x-rays, then wait a week, then MRI. At that point I was told I might have bone cancer by a someone who got that info from an 3rd party offsite whose job it was to read MRIs. But no recommendations about who I could see to confirm whether or not I had bone cancer. I was on my own. No PCP because they keep quitting. I was only able get in to see a specialist because of a different supplementary service through work. The specialist they got me in to see called me to explain my additional test results and caught me walking through my lobby (obviously, you have to pick up when it comes up as “medical” or you will never reach them again). He was in a car on his way to his vacation (I think he was driving) and I was in a public place. It was non-optimal. But I don’t have bone cancer, so that’s pretty good. I can’t imagine how things would have progressed if I did actually have cancer.

Oh, and I was also told not to walk on it at all and here’s a prescription for crutches that can be filled easily, at any pharmacist. Not true. I got lucky and a family member was available to try 3 places, including a sort of specialty one. People just blew him off. I ended up ordering from Amazon and paying for them but then didn’t use them because the crap screws fell out as I was trying to figure out how to use them. People should be fitted to crutches and shown how to use them, ffs. And how is a person supposed to just not walk for months? Especially one who lives alone? Medical advice like don’t walk on it should be given after a realistic assessment of what a patient is actually capable of and adjusted to fit reality.

Over a year ago I finally got my very badly deviated septum corrected. United Healthcare made me get surgery twice because they require the surgeon to first try a less elaborate procedure before doing the whole shebang with cartilage from the ear.

I’m not even 60 yet and up until five or ten years ago would go years and years without seeing a doctor. But from here on out I am going to stay on top of every recommended test and keep making appointments for annual checkups (eventually I’ll get one) and I’m thinking about paying out of pocket for one of those full body scans. I got the nose fixed because I felt that at some point it might have a detrimental impact on my overall health and I’m being proactive now because things are so bad. It is a part time job to make sure you have access. Once there is a problem, you are fucked. Hopefully, someone with severe, chronic asthma has a regular doctor who knows them. But who knows. Maybe his doc quit or retired.

^ I was just trying to relate enough instances to demonstrate how difficult it is to get from point A to B to C when seeking medical care

R33, you're not that bright are you?

Did you actually think that person meant, call the dr's office & speak directly to the Dr? You do realize that since the 1950s, dr's have secretaries who answer the phones, take messages & can actually relay messages to the dr? And then the Dr can return the calls?

[quote]There were 3 alternatives with a co-pay of $5.00. He didn't call his doctor immediately? his parents couldn't give him the $1,000 to him just for that month so he could immediately seek alternatives?

$5.00 copay??????? I don't know what you are nattering on about.

No, most people don't have $1,000 laying around. Not even to save their own lives. Where the fuck have you been? Most people are 2 or 3 paychecks away from being homeless

And you seem ignorant to so many things

I have asthma. In the UK, I pay £114.50 per year for a Pre-Paid Certificate that covers ALL of my prescriptions.

What R26 says is true. We pay $5.00 per item. As an Elder gay (over 65) I get mine for free. (Blood pressure, fluid retention)

I would never ever call on my family to cover a $1000 pharmacy bill

R32 particularly since you know our leaders look longingly over there for what they can get away with

R4 - he died two years ago. It was a different administration.

In Canada, my pharmacist would call my dr and ask about a generic replacement. I’ve never had a situation where my pharmacy wouldn’t or didn’t do that. They don’t just send you away with a 🤷🏼. Does that not occur in the US?

There are some valuable lessons here that should come up in more real time - and if we ever want to make change! Since the death, we've taken major steps backwards with even more coming soon.

After years with an old school doctor who knew you, I’m in the new world of medicine. You are truly on your own and it can take months to get a doctor’s appointment. I’m not sure how sick and confused people manage it. Pharmacies are also their own world with drug prices varying insanely depending on what plans you have or don’t have.

They absolutely 100% send you away with a shrug, R43. At most, they will tell you to reach out to your doctor. They certainly aren’t going to do it. I’ve never had the experience of a pharmacy being proactively helpful in any way and I’ve experienced several prolonged instances of drugs being unavailable due to shortages. A CVS won’t even call around to other CVS locations. I’m not filling prescriptions I might die without, though. At least not right away. I would have hoped in this man’s situation someone would have come up with a solution.

Here’s another one. I was at NYU Langone to get a standard blood test because the doc I had gone to was short staffed and god forbid he have to draw blood and label a tube himself (OK, I didn’t call him on that, so my bad). So I had to make a special trip. While I’m waiting I see the receptionists hassle a confused old lady in a borrowed wheelchair because she was “not allowed” to be in the waiting area. She had come in with a friend, but the friend had to leave. They wanted her to wait outside the small room. Like an 80 year-old who can barely walk is going to hear them call her name from outside the room. They didn’t attempt to find an alternative situation, just tried to kick her out. At which point a stranger stepped in.

The notion that people should "go shopping" for medical necessities is absurd. Commodity items like these which are cheap to produce can be sold at very low cost and still produce a profit.

[Quote] They should have offered to call the Dr. We don't know what happened, but it sounds like they didn't even offer to run it through Good Rx for him

I’ve never had a pharmacy offer to call my doctor for it. It’s always “You have to call your doctor!” And no one offers GoodRx unless you specifically ask for it

Honestly, until this hits the middle class more and more, only then will there be any movement towards improving the healthcare system. That’s what happened with Obamacare.

[Quote] In Canada, my pharmacist would call my dr and ask about a generic replacement.

SOCIALISM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a great reason why Canada and Greenland won’t become part of the US anytime soon.

They look at the absurdity of this and scratch they heads, wonder why Americans put up with it

No jackass eldergay at r36 I’m not ignorant of that, my point is that the process of getting a conversation with a doctor frequently takes more than 5 days, which is the amount of time between this kids pharmacy visit and his death

you sound like an utter dipshit

I was offering options. Yes I know you don't call and get the Dr Immediately. And there is the option of putting a thousand dollars on a credit card. Also there was the stupidity of Walgreens. These people didn't seek help. They also could have gone to an emergency room before an emergency. It seems as if these people looked at no options whatsoever. There is help out there if you have a bit of time. I've been told no myself and have had to seek out alternate possibilities. You people clearly know nothing. This was not a life or death situation at that moment. You mean to tell me he just walked out of there like a dodo and nobody did anything. Oh they wouldn't give me my lifesaving medication for less than $1,000 dum dee dum dum. Talk about a lack of critical thinking. You people seem to be as stupid as this family.

These people did NOTHING. How thick are you people? They did nothing to seek alternatives. Otherwise people would be constantly dying from asthma.

^^^ Sickening bootlicking ^^*

And yes I know insurance companies fuck people over many times where it is out of the patient's hands and they die. It happened to my uncle's mother. But Jesus if a pharmacist tells you no money no medication you just don't walk out and do nothing. I would have been fucked a few times if I had done that myself when I was told no.

The fuck is wrong with you? No wonder we’re fucked.

R56 you literally have no other context for this story, what was happening in his life, what other obligations or responsibilities he was dealing with. How many pharmacies in that area? Was his boss unsympathetic to sick leave requests from a healthy looking 22 year old employee? What was the status of his relationship with the parents? Was he comfortable asking them for money?He was also 22 ffs, an age where people generally feel invincible and aren’t prone to taking scrupulous care of their themselves.

The fact of the matter is that hurdles were put up between this kid and the medicine he needed

No matter how high or low those hurdles were, they were all placed there for one reason: to discourage him from following through, so that the insurance company could save money.

And that’s where the outrage should begin and end. Not with a 22 year old kid who hadnt mastered self-care, but with a company run by multiple adults who designed policies that intentionally put nnessecary barriers between people and the medicines they need, in the hope that those barriers will discourage them from obtaining proper care

A friend had a similar thing happen to him four or five years ago. He was taking something called Spiriva, which his doctor said was the best choice for preventing asthma for him. He took it for about 20 years. It’s a capsule that is placed in a device, then you inhale it. The reason this system works supposedly is that, unlike a spray, the medicine is fully inhaled into the lungs. Well, one day it went from $15 to $350 a month. The insurance company obviously wanted him to try cheaper alternatives.

Well, guess what. The cheaper alternatives work ok for asthma, but now he’s perpetually hoarse, has sore throats, and he’s had thrush a few times. This is because the alternative doesn’t work as well as the Spiriva, even though it’s a disk and supposed to. It sticks in his throat rather than go into the lungs. I had asthma as a kid, so lucky I outgrew it..

[quote] The fact of the matter is that hurdles were put up between this kid and the medicine he needed

This is the crux of the problem with American healthcare. Yes, a reasonably healthy, young, educated, internet savvy person living in an area with many providers can always research options. But the poor, the elderly, the mentally unwell, high school dropouts, rural dwellers, people without cars and bad public transport, the minimum wage workers working two jobs don’t have your advantage. Medical health is a barrier to these people. Okay, some of you don’t fall into any of these categories but god willing, someday you will be elderly with all that entails including a drop in mental acuity. Scary, isn’t it.

R60 "a reasonably healthy, young, educated, internet savvy person living in an area with many providers can always research options"---you're sanewashing a process that is ridiculous, unethical and immoral, as well as potentially deadly. No one should suddenly have to do in-depth "shopping" and as noted above, people who theoretically should help point out options like docs and pharmacists often aren't helpful. I needed to find an antibiotic that had been dropped by most distributors even though it appeared to be safe, effective and widely used elsewhere in the world. I finally found a way to buy it directly. It was somewhat expensive and not covered by insurance, but it wasn't a hardship for me. This was a process that made no sense and if this was a life threatening recurring problem (like this young man's asthma), I would have died long before I found this option.

R61, I’m not r60, but I think you misunderstood r60’s post. The point being that someone can “research options” but it’s unethical to have anyone do it.

The young, healthy and presumably educated person is already dead, so the victim blaming is moot

R65, the fact that it happened under Biden means nothing, because the people who have blocked medical reform are Repukes.

[Quote] And there is the option of putting a thousand dollars on a credit card. Also there was the stupidity of Walgreens. These people didn't seek help. They also could have gone to an emergency room before an emergency.

1000 on a credit card? And then what do you do next month, another $1000? $52000 in one year. Is that really a solution?

And no, you can’t go to the ER BEFORE and emergency and be taken seriously

[Quote] This happened two years ago....

Biden doesn’t control the prices of drugs, The GOP, however, has fought long and hard to assure drug companies can charge whatever they want

r45 And add to the "sick and confused" attributes the fact that many of those in need--both elderly and otherwise--have hearing difficulties, making it incredibly stressful to attempt to deal with the medical world with its jargon (both medical and insurance-related) and acronyms, the frequent very heavy accents of the personnel involved, the background din of the medical office or pharmacy, and the exasperation and attitude of said personnel when the patient, reeling from some new terrifying diagnosis, can't immediately understand what's being said and its implications. For such patients to be required to do medical shopping and call around is a torment which should be imposed on no one.

Oh dear. R63 tried and got grayed out.

And joni Ernst carves another in her belt.

Yes we care 65. It shouldn't happen at all. Whether it was yesterday or 2 years ago.

Okay -this will be long, but worth reading:

When I was taking care of my father in his final illness I was paying more than $1500 a month out of pocket for his prescriptions. His social security check was only $600, and he had no medical insurance (too young for Medicare). One day at CVS the pharmacist took pity on me and told me to meet him in the parking lot on his break (minds out of the gutter, folks). He told me to stop getting my scrips filled at CVS, and to go to COSTCO instead. I asked, "How much difference could there be?" Well, I went and the difference was over $1,300! His $97 inhaler was $7 at COSTCO. Why? Because they buy all their drugs in bulk (similar to Walmart -also a better place to fill your prescriptions). The kicker: you DON'T have to be a member of COSTCO to use the pharmacy. Prescription drugs and alcohol are controlled by federal laws, and those laws don't allow for club memberships. So anyone can go into a COSTCO to buy alcohol or prescription meds without a membership. Nothing else -no otc pills or remedies, just prescriptions. If you don't have insurance, or your insurance has a high copay for prescriptions, go to COSTCO. If you have to go to another city to find one, it's still likely cheaper.

The victim blaming on DL is insane, "Just put a thousand dollars on a credit card!" And then what, genius? A month later you're out of meds again and $1,000 in the hole. And everyone had a credit card I guess, with room to charge $1,000. We're all magically upper middle class with great credit and $1,000 in disposable income monthly.

The utter stupidity here sometimes...

R74, to be fair, I think it was pretty much one person (troll) who said that. Everyone else understands the idiocy of it and the complete mess our medical system is.

[quote]Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, are the middlemen that control behind the scenes which drugs will be on an insurance company’s list of covered medications .... They add or subtract medications through a process that emphasizes profits for the pharmacy benefit manager

So some person deliberately took a *lifesaving* medication off the list of covered drugs, to his/her own profit. Could that person be tried for manslaughter at the very least?

I'll bet this is an issue which would unite the left and the right to get it fixed.

Yes, R77. I'm sure you're right. It's just that easy, and we can definitely count on both sides to do the right thing. (pats head, walks away)

Not the politicians obviously R78 - it's going to have to be the people who will to have to force the politicians to do the right thing. Many from the right and left came together with the same message and concerns after Luigi killed the UnitedHealthcare CEO after all. And who said it would be easy? I didn't.

But you know - lets just do nothing and whine about the situation instead. That would be much better.

[quote]This is a great reason why Canada and Greenland won’t become part of the US anytime soon. They look at the absurdity of this and scratch they heads, wonder why Americans put up with it

And yet so many Americans think the Canadians and the Europeans are miserable and suffering under government-run health care - all they ever hear is fake horror stories ("they had to wait six months to get a cancer operation!" etc.). Americans have no clue how much worse off they are.