In a month's time, Mary Lugo spends about $900 in prescription
medicines. That's only about $50 less than what she receives from her
retirement.
"It is a lot of money for me to afford to pay all these," said
Lugo, of Ottawa, who is on prescriptions for high blood pressure and a
number of other conditions. "It is very, very tough."
Holding a bag of the medicines she's currently taking, Lugo sat on
a large bus parked outside the Lima Mall Friday. Inside, an official
with the Partnership for Prescription Assistance gathered information
from her to see if Lugo could receive some help.
"I hope I can get some help. It would be nice," Lugo said.
The Partnership for Prescription Assistance, a national program to
help patients access prescription medicines, has been bringing the
"Help is Here Express," a traveling education center, around the
country since April of last year.
"We're trying to raise awareness about patient assistance
programs," said Jennifer Page of PhRMA. "And to help people out there
who are having trouble affording their medicines get matched with the
patient assistance programs."
The tour spent two hours in Lima Friday, thanks to a partnership
with Lima Memorial Health System's Women's Center at Macy's. The tour
was in Findlay earlier Friday.
"It's the type of thing that we love to get involved with," said
Rebecca Jenkins, director of marketing at the hospital. "It enables
the community to get more information on a pretty heavy topic."
The national program is sponsored by pharmaceutical research
companies working with doctors, pharmacists, health care providers and
community groups. Since it started, it has helped nearly 2.5 million
patients around the country and 127,000 in Ohio receive free or nearly
free prescriptions.
"We know there are many more folks who could be eligible for
patient assistance programs. That's why we're here today," Page said,
saying that about 70 percent of those who are matched with a program
are under the age of 65, many times mothers of children who need a
little extra help.
There are 475 available programs. Page said the tour is bringing
them all together for easier access for people.
Those coming to the bus tour need to answer a few questions to see
if they can be matched with a program. People can also call
888-477-2669, or go to www.pparx.org for assistance.
Labels: No Prescription, Online Pharmacy, Prescription Drugs
# posted by Network @ 5:27 AM
