Month: October 2013

Making the Internet Safe for Patients

As a consumer, purchasing clothing, books, and furniture – even groceries – over the Internet is commonplace.  Online shopping is convenient and products are delivered directly to your door.  But, despite the ease of use, purchasing products like medication over the Internet can be dangerous, if not deadly. “Medications” purchased from illegal online drug sellers are often not what patients expect. These products have been found to contain dangerous substances including powdered concrete and antifreeze.[i]  Additionally, prescription drugs, if taken without a prescription from a patient’s doctor, lack the necessary and appropriate medical supervision. Drug overdose was the leading cause of injury death […]

Qualifying with Medication Co-Pay Assistance for Specialty Medications

This post was written by Sandy Hope, Funding Specialist, and Justine Dolorfino, Social Media Specialist & Communications at Diplomat. Did you know that foundations and grants exist that may help patients afford their important specialty and limited-distribution medications? Getting started with co-pay assistance Each foundation has designated disease states or medical conditions that they support. Some diagnoses can be covered by several foundations. Others are only supported by one or two foundations. This can make it more difficult to find funding for some medical conditions because of a lack of funds available or because there is not enough funding for […]

Five More Useful Mobile Apps

A few weeks ago we posted about Five Useful Mobile Apps that we believe could be very useful to our readers. Since then we have received some recommendations from our readers and have found five more free smartphone apps we think our readers could benefit from. There is an app here for everyone – from expecting mothers and parents of young children to patients on Medicare.  Click on the screenshots for larger images.   Clinical Tests and Procedures Have a medical procedure coming up and looking for more information? The Clinical Tests and Procedures App, released by Omesoft in January […]

All About The AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP)

Many patients living with HIV or AIDS take special medications to treat their conditions, which are often very expensive. There has been an increase in demand for HIV and AIDS treatment and medication, for a number of reasons. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “The epidemic is growing rapidly among minorities, who have historically experienced higher risk for poverty, lack of health insurance, comorbidity, and disenfranchisement from the health care system. The result is a growing number of people living with HIV disease who require public support.” Low-income patients diagnosed with HIV or AIDS often need […]

Be Careful Where You Click

Online Pharmacy 101: What You Need to Know The Problem Consumers of all ages are just a click away from Illegal online drug sellers that peddle dangerous products in violation of US law. Despite the existence of many safe online pharmacies that adhere to laws and safety standards, the Internet has opened the door to thousands of criminal Internet sites.  At any one time there are approximately 35,000-50,000 active online drug sellers, 97% of which do not comply with U.S. laws, putting patients at risk.[1]  Illegal online “pharmacy” operations are big business, the largest of which generate millions in sales […]

About Us

Welcome to the NeedyMeds Voice! We look forward to presenting you with timely, provocative pieces on healthcare reform, patient advocacy, medication and healthcare access, and other health-related news. Our goals are to educate, enlighten, and elucidate; together, we will try to make sense of the myriad and ongoing healthcare-related changes in the U.S. today.