Why Drugs Cost So Much
Patricia O'Tuama
peak flow meters etc etc etc are important. And I also understand
that, because of their rules, I can't sell the medIcompass device on
eBay.
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I've had asthma since I was about 23 or 24 (the direct effect of liv-
ing with smokers for 19 years). My asthma has gotten progressively
worse over the years and up until six months ago I was using two dif-
ferent corticosteroid aerosol inhalers twice a day which involved what
is known in the COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) biz as a
"spacer" -- a plastic tube device you use with the inhalers that sep-
arates the medicine from the aerosol when you breathe it in. Doing
asthma meds took me half an hour a day total as my doctor told me to
wait five minutes between each application.
Then last year GlaxoSmithKline came out with a brand new asthma med
called Advair. Advair comes in a round purple disk that looks some-
what like a month's supply of birth control pills. The thing is with
Advair, when you advance the device, it punches open a little pocket
of medicine, you breathe it in and that's it, you're all done, takes
15 seconds, and no spacers.
I love Advair, it's wonderful, it's quick and it's a thousand times
more efficient than the two inhalers I was using before. It has lit-
erally changed my life.
But I've discovered there is a dark side to it....
Apparently Glaxo is not content with mere money, Glaxo has bought the
fact that I use Advair from our insurance company and Glaxo wants to
be in my thoughts all the time. They've been sending me mail every
two to three weeks since I started on Advair in June. At first it was
just colorful four page flyers on how great Advair is and how to use
it. But lately it's gotten much worse.
Today, for instance, Glaxo sent me yet another 100 page journal (this
makes three so far) that I am supposed to fill out each day: when I
took the Advair, if I had any wheezing or coughing, how many hours I
slept, what my peak flow meter reading is (a device that measures how
efficient your breathing is; I have one but I never use it since how
well I'm breathing is not exactly the sort of thing I have trouble
determining on my own). On Saturday I am supposed to write -- get this
-- a ONE PAGE ESSAY on how my breathing was for the previous week.
Initially I thought I could have some fun with the first journal they
sent me: "Dear Asthma Diary, 7.30am took Advair; 8.30am diagnosed at
emergency room with acute pneumonia," but, alas, they don't want the
journals back, they just want me to show them to my doctor.
This is in marked contrast to the elaborate electronic recording device
they sent me by FedEx Overnight a month ago. This came with a little
plastic briefcase with a little plastic handle and is probably worth
about $200 on the medical devices market. It's called a "MedIcompass
Asthma Monitoring System." I'm supposed to use it as a high-tech sophis-
ticated peak flow meter but instead of my just reading the numbers on
the gauge, the MedIcompass wants me to plug it into a phone jack once
a week which will allow me to upload my personal "Airwatch Data" to
medIcompass.com. I should add that the little briefcase also came with
a nice set of file folders with useful headers like "Lifestyle," "Educa-
tion" and "Treatment Plan" plus, best of all, they sent me my very own
Glaxo ballpoint pen.
And that's not all. Six weeks ago Glaxo sent me a letter asking me to
please fill out a form detailing the schedule I use when taking Advair,
what time I take it, where I keep it, how I remember to take it, etc,
and to return this information to them in a postpaid envelope. They
said this could be very useful to other asthma patients and that Glaxo
might use the responses they received to help new patients remember to
take Advair. I had answered the first question before it occurred to
me that Glaxo isn't really interested in what I do, they are interested
in my writing it down, in my recognizing that I have (or need to have)
a regular schedule for the medication. They needn't have worried on
my account, however, I've converted my Advair disks to earrings and
never go anywhere without them.
And that's still not all. Two weeks ago Glaxo sent me a cute little
"Patient Profile" booklet that comes in it's own special plastic case.
I am supposed to fill out my medical history and then carry it with me
at all times. I actually considered doing this but then decided the
list I keep in my purse of the meds I take would certainly alert any
EMT to the fact that I have chronic asthma and would be more useful in
an emergency than wading through numerous entries such as "1962 appen-
dix removed; 1973 tonsillectomy; 1986 sprained ankle."
In case you missed it, this summer the major drug companies went from
spending more money on research and development ($15 bill) to spending
more on marketing and donations to the Republican Party ($16 billion).
I am, however, considering asking Glaxo to send me another MedIcompass
Asthma Monitoring System or two just as soon as I figure out how to
list the one I have on eBay.
--Patricia O'Tuama (ri...@xnet.com)
http://advair.ibreathe.com/