Talk about a bitter pill!

Dennie Quill, Columnist

Like many people over 60 years old, my friend Robert has been taking cholesterol-lowering medication in a bid to improve his chances of living longer. His doctor has put him on a cholesterol-lowering drug and he has been taking his dosage faithfully every day for the past four years or so.

In that regard Robert is not unique; there are scores of others like him. A few years back, most men aged 65 were candidates for retirement. But we live in a different world because effective drugs and various lifestyle changes are ensuring that people live longer and more productive lives. So Robert has found a new zest for life and so, too, have many of his friends.

But lately, Robert has been very upset, and with good reason, I believe. Robert has just learnt that AstraZeneca, the company that manufactures and distributes the drug Crestor, has initiated a number of ways to assist persons in obtaining the drug at lower prices.

He said he went on the Crestor website and discovered that the London-based drug company was offering a 30-day free trial offer as well as other coupons as part of a sales promotion.

Vital information

He also learnt that in Jamaica there are certain participating pharmacies that are supposed to offer bonus tablets to patients who buy a specified dosage of the drug. This is what has got Robert livid. In the current economic crunch, and even with the benefits of the National Health Fund, Robert pays a hefty cost each month for drugs that are necessary to stave off a heart attack.

He argues that although he had been filling his prescription at three of the participating pharmacies in Kingston, no one ever bothered to let him know that he was due a manufacturer's benefit.

Not only did they not tell him about it, he was never given the additional pills and feels that he was cheated by a system that is not as transparent as it ought to be. "It is so uncaring," he lamented.

Is it that the pharmacists in question simply forgot to tell him, or is it that they deliberately omitted this vital piece of information? If the latter is true, it calls into question the honesty and integrity of these health-care professionals who are usually highly regarded and trusted by patients. Who stands to gain by withholding from the patient vital information that is designed to reduce high health-care costs?

Drug prices

The pharmaceutical companies and their agents, therefore, need to monitor the activities of these pharmacies to ensure that the benefit is passed on to the consumer, as it was intended. Robert says the steam of high prescription drug prices is what sent him to the Internet in the first place, and he is just so happy to learn that he can order prescriptions online from anywhere in the world. Savvy man that he is, he intends to avail himself of every available benefit that can be had.

This is a matter in which the Pharmacy Council of Jamaica should be interested, since this body is charged with the responsibility of regulating the industry and ensuring that standards are maintained.

If pharmacists are going to cheat customers like this, one wonders if there are other areas in which they are short-changing the patients who use their services.

Dennie Quill is a veteran media practitioner. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and denniequill@hotmail.com.