06/29/2022    Al Musella, DPM

Insulin Costs Outpacing Financial Resources for 4 in 5 Patients (Steven Kravitz, DPM)

Insulin costs are just the tip of the iceberg.
Drug prices are out of control. I got involved in
brain cancer and run a brain cancer foundation.
For these patients the copay for the first month of
chemotherapy if they have Medicare alone is about
$1,000. About half of these patients can not afford
it and go without it which leads to an earlier
death and much smaller chance at long term
survival. When my dad was diagnosed with a
malignant brain tumor and he was told his cost for
the chemo was going to be about $5,000 a month(this
is before Medicare started paying for it), he
refused it.

When I found out he refused it I bought it for him
but it was too late. He died just 3 months later.
Statistically, the average glioblastoma patient in
the USA lives 8-9 months. However, if you only
count patients who get access to treatments the
average is closer to 2 years. This is a huge
problem.

The chemotherapy is now generic so no manufacturer
offers copay assistance. I started a copay
assistance program to help these people and awarded
over $10 million in grants to patients to help pay
for their treatments. But it is a drop in the
bucket. We have to fix the root cause. It is only
going to get way worse soon. Any new treatments for
rare diseases like brain cancer have to cost over
$200,000 a year just due to the regulatory process.

I helped write a bill that is now in a
congressional committee that should help. It
creates a new pathway for FDA approval for
treatments for life threatening disease that will
cut off about 95% of the cost of getting a new drug
approved, while increasing the amount of research
done on the drug. This will lead to innovation,
choice, lower prices with competition and
ultimately cures.

I could use some help getting it passed. I am not
asking for money! Just for you to send emails to
your representatives asking them to support it. I
set up a fast and easy way to do so. Go to

https://virtualtrials.org/activism.cfm#/1 for
details or contact me for more info

Al Musella, DPM, Hewlett, NY

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