Posted on 12/11/2014 5:54:15 PM PST by Allen In Texas Hill Country
Doctor gave me a Victoza sample that lasts for a month. At the end of the month if he likes the results he'll give me a prescription. Having no med coverage the monthly costs is somewhere between 6 and 7 hundred a month.
I see near a hundred sites that offer rx cards that make prescriptions near free. Can't believe any of them are for real.
The Victoza site offers a card (actually a print out) that says brings the cost down to $25 a month. Took it to Walmart and they blew it off.
Anybody taking Victoza and how can a retired nobody pay for it?
What sort of health insurance do you have?
Not that this will lower your price to an affordable point but do you have AAA? I had a Caremark discount on prescriptions at Walgreens.
The possible side effects of Victoza are pancreatitis and thyroid tumors, both of which can be fatal. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) reported that the FDA’s clinical safety reviewer originally voted against approving the drug because of its link to thyroid tumors, insufficient study to rule out increased heart attack and stroke risk, as well as an increased risk for pancreatitis. In 2011, the FDA published a warning that doctors weren’t fully aware of thyroid risks associated with Victoza. That notice also mentioned that clinical trials suggested an increased risk of pancreatitis in Victoza patients.
http://www.drugwatch.com/victoza/
If he’s retired and past 65, he’s on Medicare.
I have no idea how even working people can afford all the stuff Bronco Bama promised.
We have one of those card displays on the counter in our office. . . and it works well for some prescriptions, not so well for others. . . and it depends on the pharmacy. I would suggest you contact the manufacturer of the drug and see if they have a program to help pay for the costs. Most of them do.
I know that some pharmaceutical companies have deeply discounted programs for expensive medications. One is Shire. You apply, provide some financial info, your insurance coverage for the med, and have your doctor fill out a form with his info and the prescription. In the case of Shire, the medication gets delivered to your door.
I think that there are several levels based on income. These range from $0 to $25 and perhaps more.
WalMart didn’t “blow you off”, you didn’t read the fine print on the card. It has a maximum they will pay probably $40-$60 and usually only after the primary insurance has paid.
I would take metformin if I needed to take a diabetes drug.
Have you see the health benefits from it?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metformin
CVS takes the discount card for my wife’s Victoza.
I do not know anything about your prescription or what it is for.
However. I do know Big Evil Pharma has programs that will provide low cost, and even no cost, prescriptions. I had a friend who’s infant needed a ridiculously expensive medication and they couldn’t afford it. I told him to call and send a very nice letter explaining your situation. The company sent him the prescriptions at no charge.
If that doesn’t work harass them even more.
And if that still doesn’t work then all I can suggest is generics that might do the trick. Example, my blood pressure pills are $3 a month for generics. The name brand is in the hundreds. Guess which I go with as i am uninsured as well.
Every drug has the potential for side effects. Doesn’t mean you are guaranteed to experience them. A good doctor weighs the risks and the potential benefits and will order tests and monitoring to check for problems and to make sure the drug is working.
I take several drugs, all of which have some risk. But some of them are necessary to keep me alive. Only one drug made my already existing kidney disease worse and had to be discontinued. The rest are doing the job with no major side effects.
For a time when I needed a name brand drug that cost an arm and a leg, I used a Canadian pharmacy. You might get a better price there:
-A good doctor weighs the risks and the potential benefits
Not everyone has a good doctor. I read up on my meds and discuss risks from an “educated” layman’s view point. Many doctors are quick to give out expensive samples of drugs not covered by insurance as the have a vested interest in pushing the product.
Just medicare A&B and a medigap. Nothing for prescriptions.
A new FDA approved inhaled insulin is coming out soon, hopefully in January, from Sanofi/Mannkind. It is called Afrezza and it is approved for both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. I do not know if it would be right for you but it is much safer than many of the drugs out there. And the best part is that you don’t have to inject yourself. You might want to ask your GP or ENDO about it to see if you’d be a candidate for it. I can’t tell you if Sanofi will be offering any discounts as it isn’t out yet but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did for those in your position. Good luck.
I’m already on the max metformin. As an aside metformin has several good side effects.
Went to goodrx.com and for Victoza the coupons were weren’t worth the trouble.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.