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[eris_devotee]

I've never been this pissed off in my life. And it's all the time

Comments

[aldoushuxley]

Here's hoping the docs go to bat for you.

[eris_devotee]

They did go to bat for me. Today I found out it was for nothing - their treatment plan was rejected by my insurance. The docs can appeal, and they plan on it. I told them I'm considering inducing a bad lupus flare and their response wasn't "that's crazy talk"...it was "we'll pretend we didn't hear you say that".

[court9]

I briefly mentioned some of the crap you're going through to a friend. She suggested contacting CBS to see if they'll look into it. She'd been having a medical billing problem that she spent months+ trying to resolve. CBS contacted the hospital once, and consultant called her to settle things immediately. Yours, if you couldn't get approved for the drug right away, would make a good story about greedy pharmaceutical companies and on-label/off-label certifications. Might be cheaper for them to give it to you low/no cost as patient assistance than the hit a news story would make to their PR department. I can think of tons of reasons why you wouldn't want to do that, but it may be an avenue to pursue if your options end up exhausted.

(and super sorry if i've already said this, my brain is so forgetful)

[eris_devotee]

I have no beef with the drug company that makes rituximab - it's Medicaid that's the problem. I am active with someone who is initiating a class action lawsuit regarding a different issue (the 4 prescription limit), but we've been unable to get any press involved even though it affects over 200,000 people in Illinois alone.

I've looked into going to Mexico or Belize, but with rituximab, one usually needs at least 2 infusions/year, so the travel costs nullifies that option.

The cost isn't just the medication - the administration and management of side effects is almost as costly as the med. All-in-all it's about $10k/infusion. For an indefinite length of time.