Almost every day, I’m asked for cheaper alternatives to prescribed medicines. Patients can’t afford their prescriptions. This is a sad. The patient’s cost associated with obtaining medication contributes to therapeutic failure more than any other factor. It seems obvious that if the patient can’t afford the drug, there wouldn’t be treatment, yet prescribers are oblivious to this detail. It has become so bad that I’ve started telling patients to take their insurance plan’s formulary to the physician’s visit so that the prescriber can get a hint of the list of the patient’s formulary of drugs.

The worst part of the scenario is the uninformed patient. This patient category is hoping that the prescriber has their best interest at heart. This isn’t always the case. Patients need to be more aware of their options. These can include asking the prescriber for any of the following: samples, manufacturer rebate cards, coupon checks, or generic alternatives. At the pharmacy, if the patient has no insurance, inquire about a prescription savings card or discount card. Any little bit helps. Also, even if the prescribed drug exists in a generic formulation, using the discount card will save even more at checkout. And remember to call around to see which pharmacy has a lower price.

There is one important caveat to shopping around for a lower prescription price, and that is to keep a current list of your medications and health conditions on you at all times. This helps the pharmacist (or prescriber) to screen for possible drug interactions against your health information. If you don’t, you run the risk of creating fragmented files at multiple provider sites. This is dangerous because a prescribed drug may have a  dangerous interaction with your medical condition or your other medications and may slip by your healthcare provider unnoticed to cause major health issues – which may include hospitalization or death. This is one reason I advocate sticking with one pharmacy for all your medication needs if you don’t carry your health, prescription or allergy information around with you.

In closing, try to develop a professional relationship with your local pharmacist to help steer you in the right direction when it comes to medications.

Until next week, stay well.

Dion