Critical care nurse Janet Kerrigan was stunned to discover in 2011 that she had multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer, and she only had a year or two to live.<\/p>\n
A crucial stem cell transplant in 2012 prolonged her life \u2014 but her private insurance carrier stuck her with 20% of the nearly million-dollar tab. Then came the pharmacy bill.<\/p>\n
She was put on Revlimid, a pricey prescription drug that activates the immune system to fight cancer cells. Her co-pay was a whopping $11,000.<\/p>\n
Critical care nurse Janet Kerrigan was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer, in 2011. Handout<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a drug that\u2019s going to keep my myeloma at rest,\u201d Kerrigan, 69, who lives in Myrtle Beach, S.C., told The Post. \u201cIt\u2019s like a diabetic needs insulin. Myeloma patients need Revlimid, so I just went into action.\u201d<\/p>\n
What followed was a dizzying cycle of asset liquidation, family-led fundraisers<\/a>, side jobs and grant applications \u2014 anything she could do to keep the Revlimid flowing.<\/p>\n The preposterous price of prescription pills seized the spotlight<\/a> last week when President Trump announced<\/a> new efforts to lower them. Pfizer agreed to reduce prescription drug costs for Medicaid, while a soon-to-launch \u201cTrumpRx\u201d site is slated to offer discounted meds for the uninsured and underinsured.<\/p>\n Kerrigan, who is now retired and on Medicare, believes this is the \u201cbeginning of the help that we need.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t believe it\u2019s just going to be Medicaid,\u201d she said about Trump\u2019s drug plan, which is still evolving. \u201cI think you\u2019re going to start seeing a trickle-down effect.\u201d<\/p>\n Inside Trump\u2019s new drug-pricing plan<\/p>\n Kerrigan noted that she knows myeloma patients who can get a three-month supply of their meds for $80 \u2014 in India.<\/p>\n Kerrigan, center, has struggled to make ends meet to pay for her treatments and prescription drugs. Handout<\/p>\n Prescription drug prices are notoriously high in the US, with Americans shelling out nearly three times<\/a> as much as other high-income nations.<\/p>\n Trump has long been pursuing a \u201cmost-favored-nation\u201d (MFN) drug pricing plan to align US costs with those of other wealthy countries.<\/p>\n Since his Sept. 30 announcement, AstraZeneca launched\u00a0AstraZeneca Direct<\/a> to sell its prescribed medications at discounted cash prices. The asthma rescue inhaler\u00a0Airsupra and the diabetes drug Farxiga are among the treatments on the online platform.<\/p>\n And starting in January, French drugmaker Sanofi will expand its $35 monthly insulin program<\/a> to all US patients with a valid prescription, regardless of their insurance status.<\/p>\n Trump promised savings of up to 85% with his new initiative, though critics have said it<\/a> doesn\u2019t go far enough for patients to feel it in their pocketbooks.<\/p>\n How prescription drug costs add up<\/p>\n Aarolyn McCullough, 66,\u00a0could use all the help she can get.<\/p>\n Aarolyn McCullough suffers from an autoimmune liver disease. She received a liver transplant in 2011. Handout<\/p>\n The retired US Postal Service worker swallows 16 pills a day to keep herself alive after being diagnosed with an autoimmune liver disease and receiving a liver transplant.<\/p>\n There\u2019s medicine to suppress her immune system, to keep her bile ducts open, to lower her high blood pressure, to improve her cholesterol levels, to boost her bone density.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s cream for her prolapsed bladder and Ozempic for her diabetes. The list goes on and on.<\/p>\n Though she has federal employee health insurance, she estimates that she drops $600 every 90 days for her extensive drug arsenal. It means cutting back in other areas of her life, like travel, entertainment and dining out.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to make sure that my medication is No. 1, because without that, I can\u2019t do anything else,\u201d McCullough, of Oak Park, Mich., told The Post.<\/p>\n Looking for help in DC<\/p>\n Kerrigan and McCullough are part of Patients for Affordable Drugs<\/a>, a national organization dedicated to lowering prescription drug prices.<\/p>\n Kerrigan and other members of Patients for Affordable Drugs met with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in July. Handout<\/p>\n Kerrigan, along with other members of the group, met with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/a> <\/strong>over the summer to plead for relief.<\/p>\n \u201cI said, \u2018I\u2019m going to tell you something embarrassing, but this is what I had to do. My mother gave me my grandmother\u2019s silver, and I cashed it in to pay for my medical bills,\u2019 \u201d recalled Kerrigan, who also tapped into her pension and 401(k) retirement savings plan.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I got angry, and I said, \u2018Nobody should have to go through this.’\u201d<\/p>\n Kerrigan said Kennedy \u201creally listened to us\u201d and seemed \u201cvery, very empathetic\u201d to the cause, even expressing anger at the hoops group members have had to jump through to get their meds.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n After the meeting, Kennedy said<\/a> that reducing prescription drug prices to match those of other nations is the \u201conly humane thing and compassionate thing that we can do for Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n Shaping a new future<\/p>\n Stressing about sky-high prices distracts from the good that McCullough is doing.<\/p>\n She assists transplant patients at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, where she received her donor liver in 2011, and runs the nonprofit Aarolyn\u2019s House of Hope<\/a>. She envisions a space for organ recipients and their families that resembles the Ronald McDonald House.<\/p>\n McCullough estimates that she shells out $600 every 90 days for her prescription drug regimen. Handout<\/p>\n