My name is Michael Nielsen and my wife, Jacki, and I live in Bend, Oregon. I am a two-tour disabled Vietnam combat veteran, so my family has health coverage from CHAMPVA. But even with insurance, we’ve had trouble affording Jacki’s medication for chronic hepatitis C.
Jacki is currently trying out a new drug, Mavyret, on a recommendation from her doctor. Mavyret costs $12,000 for a 30-day supply. We were unable to afford the out-of-pocket expenses of $3,000 annually, but luckily, we qualified for financial help from a patient assistance foundation.
Jacki has been on Mavyret for two months and is waiting for test results to see if it works for her, but she will die without relief for her condition. She is so fatigued all the time that it’s hard for her to get things done and keep up with our four grandchildren. I know that drug companies need to recoup the costs of research and development and that executives have a duty to make a “reasonable” profit for their investors. But I don’t understand how they can watch people die and not help them. Perhaps pharma executives would think differently if they had a family member who fought for their country, dedicated their lives to helping others, and were dying because they couldn’t afford their medications. High drug prices are killing the people our great country is supposed to protect. We must put people over profits.
The prescription drug pricing system in the U.S. is rigged against patients. We are fighting to change that.
Patients For Affordable Drugs will collect patient stories and amplify the voices of patients to make policymakers understand the heavy toll of high priced drugs.
Share your storyPatients For Affordable Drugs is the only independent national patient organization focused exclusively on achieving policy changes to lower the price of prescription drugs.
