Real Stories, Real People
Patient Testimonies
High Prescription Drug Prices Perpetuate Systemic Racism. We Can Change It.
By Tomi Fadeyi-Jones, Chuck Hurley, Gloria Johnson-Cusack, Cal LaRoche, David Mitchell, Nicole Solomon-Mitchell As Democrats and Republicans consider how to deliver on their promises to lower drug prices made during the 2020 election, there’s an important imperative for reform that has gone underreported: High drug prices contribute to poor health outcomes and disproportionately harm Black […]
Patient Testimonies
We don’t have any choice but to figure out how to pay.
My name is Trevor Coyne and I’m from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. My wife, Erica, has lived with rheumatoid arthritis for over a decade and faces astronomical prices for the drug she needs to treat her condition. Erica has taken methotrexate for her RA for years, but her doctor recently advised her to switch to Cimzia because […]
Patient Testimonies
My name is Sarah Duhart Clarke, and I live in Raleigh, North Carolina. Eleven years ago, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease. Diabetes is an incredibly expensive diagnosis. When I was first diagnosed, I was still a teenager and remained on my parents’ insurance. The cost of medicine and supplies created […]
Patient Testimonies
I didn't have any other choice.
My name is Samantha Rynearson and I’m from Selinsgrove, PA. I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease after over a year-long battle fighting severe unexplained anemia. It was a relief to finally have answers, but it was devastating to learn that there was no cure and that I would be dealing with this disease for the […]
Patient Testimonies
There was no way I could afford either prescription.
My name is Miriam Wolfe and I’m from York, Maine. I live with chronic pain because I’m unable to afford the medications I need. Last year, I developed constant and severe pain that required analgesic suppositories to control. My doctor wrote a prescription for nifedipine and lidocaine that had to be filled at a compounding […]
Patient Testimonies
This relief comes with a steep price tag.
My name is Lisa Ann Wetzel-Trainor and I’m a chronic illness writer and after school art teacher. I live in Wall, NJ with my husband, Stephen, and our three rescue dogs. When I was 16, I experienced a trauma that left me with severe fibromyalgia and PTSD. At 19 years old, I was officially diagnosed […]
Patient Testimonies
My name is Marcus, and Nov. 25, 2000 will always be seared into my mind as the day my life changed. It was my sophomore year of high school. I was going to the bathroom once every five minutes and was very lethargic. No matter what I ate, I kept having to pee. I wrote […]
Patient Testimonies
I know what it's like to live without.
My name is Valerie and I’m from Long Beach, CA. I live with rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and bipolar disorder, and I’m advocating for affordable prescription drugs because I know what it’s like to live without. Though I initially had a hard time finding doctors who believed my pain, I was finally diagnosed with both RA […]