Intensive care nurse Janet Kerrigan was shocked to learn in 2011 that she had multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer. She only has one to two years left to live.
A critical stem cell transplant in 2012 extended her life. But her private insurer ended up covering 20% of the tab, which amounted to nearly $1 million. Then came the pharmacy bill.
She took Revlimid, an expensive prescription drug that activates the immune system to fight cancer cells. Her co-pay was a whopping $11,000.
“This is the drug that stabilizes my myeloma,” Kerrigan, 69, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, told The Post. “It’s like a diabetic patient needs insulin. A myeloma patient needs Revlimid, so we took action right away.”
What followed was a dizzying cycle of asset liquidations. Family-led fundraising eventSide jobs and grant funding – anything she can to keep Revlimid flowing.
The exorbitant prices of prescription drugs were put in the spotlight last week when President Trump announced a new effort to lower prices. Pfizer has agreed to lower prescription drug costs for Medicaid, and its upcoming “TrumpRx” site will offer discounted drugs to the uninsured and underinsured.
Kerrigan, now retired and receiving Medicare, believes this is “the beginning of the help we need.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be just Medicaid,” she said of Trump’s still-evolving drug plan. “I think we’re starting to see a trickle-down effect.”
Inside Trump’s New Drug Pricing Plan
Kerrigan noted that she knows a myeloma patient in India who can get a three-month supply of medication for $80.
Prescription drug prices are notoriously high in the United States. The Americans returned fire almost three times. As much as other high-income countries.
President Trump has long pursued a “Most Favored Nation” (MFN) drug pricing plan to bring U.S. costs in line with those of other wealthy countries.
After the announcement on September 30th, AstraZeneca launches AstraZeneca Direct We sell prescription drugs at discounted cash prices. Asthma rescue inhaler Airsupra and diabetes medication Farxiga are among the treatments available on the online platform.
And from January, French pharmaceutical companies Sanofi is expanding its $35 per month insulin program. Available to all U.S. patients with a valid prescription, regardless of insurance status.
Trump has promised cost savings of up to 85% through the new plan, but critics say the savings aren’t enough for patients to feel them.
How prescription drug costs add up
Aaronyn McCullough, 66, could use all the help she can get.
A retired U.S. Postal Service worker swallows 16 pills a day to stay alive after receiving a liver transplant after being diagnosed with autoimmune liver disease.
There are medications to suppress her immune system, keep her bile ducts open, lower high blood pressure, improve cholesterol levels, and increase bone density.
Then there is the cream for bladder prolapse and Ozempic for diabetes. The list goes on and on.
Although she has federal employee health insurance, she estimates she saves $600 every 90 days to pay for a wide range of medications. This means cutting back on other areas of your life, such as travel, entertainment and eating out.
“I have to make sure my drug is No. 1, because I can’t do anything else without it,” McCullough, of Oak Park, Michigan, told The Post.
Looking for help in DC
Kerrigan and McCullough are part of the following: Patients who want inexpensive drugsA national organization dedicated to lowering prescription drug prices.
Kerrigan with other members I met with Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. I pleaded for relief during the summer.
“I said, ‘I’m embarrassed to tell you, but this is what I have to do. My mother gave me my grandmother’s silver coins and I cashed them to pay my medical bills,’” Kerrigan recalled. She also took advantage of her pension and 401(k) retirement savings plans.
“And I got angry and said, ‘No one should have to go through this.’”
Kerrigan said Kennedy “really listened to us” and seemed “very, very sympathetic” to the cause, even expressing anger at the hurdles group members had to run through to get the drugs.
After the meeting is over, kennedy said Lowering prescription drug prices in line with prices in other countries is “the only humane and compassionate thing we can do for Americans.”
creating a new future
The emphasis on high prices gets in the way of the good work McCullough is doing.
She helps transplant patients at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, where she received a liver donation in 2011, and runs a non-profit organization. Aroline’s House of Hope. She envisions a space similar to the Ronald McDonald House for organ recipients and their families.
Kerrigan, for her part, set out to do the following: support group For myeloma patients and their caregivers in the Myrtle Beach area.
She returned to remission and off prescription drugs in 2023 after receiving personalized immunotherapy.
Kerrigan said lower drug prices overall “will be a lifesaver for a lot of people.”
“Why should someone with cancer worry about where they can get their medicine in the United States?” she added.
