In response ot Kathy...re:subsidies

[Guest guest]

Kathy wrote;

[....In a lot of cases, the income threshold of the drug company is so

low that even though you can't afford the medication, they will deem

you ineligible for their program. As awful as it sounds, this sort of

thing is necessary otherwise you could have people living in nice

houses, driving nice cars, taking nice vacations, eating good food who

are trying to get the drug companies to subsidize their meds because

they spend their money on other things. That would mean that the rest

of us would be buying drugs for people who can afford to buy their own

because drug prices would rise for the rest of us. So, by all means

contact Abbott to get the details on their program because it IS real

and there are thousands of people who are helped in this way -

unfortunately - there are thousands more who need help and can't get

it. Kathy F.]

That is worded beautifully, Kathy...and it is a huge issue for me. My

husband's cancer treatment includes Erbitux, a biologic used for

certain kinds of tumors, in hub's case, liver metastisis from rectal

cancer. If we did not have the insurance we have (and we do not

qualify for any aid due to his income prior to deductions and although

we spend at least 50% of our income on medical care) he would not be

able to receive this lifesaving, we hope, med. The PET/CT exams he has

on a regular basis which keeps his wonderful oncologist informed would

not even be done without insurance because of before expenses income

levels... add my meds and care and we have little left for decent

diets, OTC meds, transportation and housing expenses...but we do not

qualify for any aid at all due to his income... It's frustrating.

Delane