In our new series “The Cost of Denial,” NBC News’ Anne Thompson reports on the young man who went to refill his asthma inhaler only to find it unaffordable because it was no longer covered by his insurance. He left the pharmacy with an emergency inhaler that his father says was found empty by his bed.
My asthma was getting really bad so my doctor prescribed me a series of daily inhalers that were all ineffective at best. Then Symbicort got approved and it worked great for me. He gave me a few samples and then I got a free year of it. After that, my copay was $20…until one day it was $400. I couldn’t afford that and there was no approved generic.
Struggling to pay to not struggle to breathe takes a pretty significant emotional toll on you. I almost died several times because some useless middlemen wanted to impress their soulless shareholders