About 3 weeks ago I posted the following:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027617436

it was about a 4 day ordeal getting some medication for my Mom. I emailed the post to my State Senator and my US Senator. My State Senator personally email me on Friday & I talked to his staff today. They forwarded my post to the State Department of Aging & they have contacted the pharmaceutical company, who of course will not return his call.

Love Senator Wayne Fontana.

Bacon Roasted Chicken with potatoes

Pickled beets

and garlic bread.

Desert is Banana Bread with walnuts I baked last night

I'm liking "You, Me and the Apocalyse" there's a character, Jamie, in it searching for his birth mother, he and his friend find his mother and learn that she had beaten a cop with his own truncheon back in 1981, during and anti-nuke demonstration.

The friend listens to Jamie's mother then looks over at Jamie and says "you're vagina mother is awesome".

As I was leaving the Doc asked if I had plans for the weekend. Told him I was going to the Bernie March here in Pittsburgh. Two patients, one an African American woman in her 20's and an African American male in his 60's, asked where and when this march was happening.

I gave them the information with times and logistics. When they heard that John Fetterman the Mayor of Braddock and a candidate for Senator was going to speak they were very excited.

The young woman said she can't back Hillary, she doesn't like her and that the Republicans will just talk trash if she's the candidate. She said she likes Bernie, because "he's a thinker", "you can see he's speaking about one thing, but his mind is 2 steps ahead, she said.

The man said I just down right like the Clintons.

I hopefully will see them Saturday.

This was last week's post:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027617436

Today I went to pick up the prescription of Santyl for mom. Last week we paid $60 after receiving a $150 discount from the drug company, and mom paying $60 ($50 + $10 over the $200 mark).

The pharmacist rings up the prescription and asks for $145. I said no, it was $60 with the discount last week (Monday the 15th). He goes to the computer checks and comes back and says the $145 is with the company paying $150. I said the drug can't go up $85-$90 in one week, he says yes it can.

I declined the medication had it transferred to Walmart, where I find the goodrx.com price to be $214.80. The coupon/discount will be $150, so mom's payment will be about $64.80.

I'm not in disbelief that a pharmaceutical company will up the price by $90 in one week, especially one that discontinued the generic/cheaper version of this salve. I've also found out that since 2013, the increase in prescriptions for Santyl is about 25%, which is a reason this company is doing this.

This is obscene.

Yesterday......Mom-"what's the temperature outside?"
Me-"63"
Mom-"that's cold"

Today.........Mom-what's the temperature outside?
Me--"48"
Mom-"that's really cold"

Even 74 for her is cold

I told her today is like an early spring day. She doesn't get it.

This past Friday I took my mom for an appointment at the wound care center. She has a large open wound on her leg caused by vascular disease, she is not diabetic.

The Doctor prescribed "Santyl" and faxed it to a pharmacy they say gets it for their patients at usually about $40. It's not a pharmacy that I would go to, it is locally owned and has a good reputation, but it is a bit out of the way. I checked the price on goodrx.com and found the lowest price about $212 @ the local Walmart Pharmacy. So I figured the $40 cost was of course utilizing a person's insurance.

Now my mom has Pacenet (A Pennsylvania program for seniors with a certain income). Now this insurance is $40 a month, with $8 copays for generic medications and $15 for name brand. I do not allow my mother to utilize the Pacenet as most of her medications are never more than $25 for a 3 month supply and Pacenet does not allow for a 3 month supply to be dispensed. Mom understands this and knows that Pacenet is only to be used when she needs a name brand and the cost is very high. Which in this case we will use it. The cost to mom should be $80 ($40 for insurance premium for January & February) and $15 for the medicine.

I go to the pharmacy on Saturday, give them mom's Pacenet card and learn that Pennsylvania does not cover medications from this manufacturer. Now understand there is only one manufacturer of this drug, world wide. As the Doctor wrote the prescription for a volume of 60, mom will need 2 tubes of this ointment, so now the cost at this drug store is $500 (though it will match the Wallmart price). However $424 is still something my mom can't afford.

I go home do my research & find that there is another drug "xenaderm" which is similar to "Santyl" but at 25% of the cost, $62. I called the Doctor's office on Monday and was told that "xenaderm" is an excellent substitute and they called the prescription into the Walmart Pharmacy. Closer to me and $62 is the goodrx.com price at Walmart.

I called Pacenet offices and learned that the manufacturer of "Santyl" refuses to participate in the Pacenet Program. They gave me the name of the company that makes "Santyl" and I called that company, it was recently bought by another company. I told the company service representative, Martha, that I was not happy that they would not work with the PA program and that they were forcing many seniors to pay for medication that was too costly for those on a very fixed income. I was very nice and informed her that I would be letting my State Senator know about the unwillingness of this manufacturer to work with Pennsylvania.

After I get off the phone with Martha, the Doctor's office calls us & tells us that Walmart is having difficulty finding "xenaderm". I call the local pharmacy and ask if they can locate it, they check their distributor and they can't find it. I then do my research and learn that the manufacturer of "xenaderm" is the same manufacturer of "santyl".

I called Martha back, left a voice mail and told her I need to have "xenaderm" available in Pennsylvania, so my mom can get it. Martha promptly called me back and informed me that they discontinued manufacturing "xenaderm". The light bulb went off in my head. I incredulously asked "so you discontinued the less expensive medication (the medication that gets better consumer ratings) in order to sell only the more expensive drug? I continued with comparing her company to the NYC exec who upped the price on the $1.50 pill to $750. I continued with and you have the audactity not to work with insurance programs run by States." I also informed her that not only will my State Senator get an email about this, but also my US Senator will.

I called Walmart and told them that I learned that "xenaderm" is discontinued by the manufacturer. The Tech was great, she said to give her a few minutes to look something up. She directed me to the Santyl.com web page, where there is a coupon worth $50 toward the purchase of "Santyl" and the company will pick up the next $150. I called the local pharmacy and told them what I had learned. The pharmacist told me they could take the coupon but it would be about $200, since mom needed 2 tubes. I said no, I'll take one tube today, $50, I'll pick up the 2nd tube next week, $50. And that's what I did.

Doctor's office called this morning & said she ordered something with the Home Health Care Agency. I told her to rescind that order, as I had taken care of the matter and "Santyl" was in the house.

This was an ordeal that no one should have to go through. I'm 59 and it was a headache for me, I just wonder how many people my mother's age, don't have an advocate and paid full price for this drug. Also I don't see the $150 the company pays for this drug as "corporate care, or corporate giving back". I think that the drug's real cost is far from $500, it's just a price they wanted to charge for it. They don't have to research it, as it was developed by the company they bought out. I think this company just sees an uptake in the need for this ointment and is trying to make a quick buck.

If I sound cynical, I'll admit that I am.

that Trump repeated yesterday, that keeps getting bleeped today. I can't read his lips. If it is too bad too repeat, just give me the first letter or two.

my first time ever making a pie. I had a ready made crust, so the hard part was out of the way. I sliced apples and tossed them with flour and allspice. I then mixed sugar & sour cream then blended butter into it, it then poured this over the apples and mixed it in, then placed it into the pie plate. Baked it and then the last 10 minutes of baking I sprinkled a mix of cinnamon, butter and sugar over it.

It is delicious.

I rescued her from the pound for a whopping $25 (which included getting her spayed), lived with me for 14 years