Tag: Prescriptions

5 Ways to Find Help with Your Diabetes Costs

Treatment and other diabetes-related costs can be expensive.   According to the American Diabetes Association the total costs of diagnosed diabetes was  $245 billion in 2012, with $176 billion in direct medical costs.  “People with diagnosed diabetes incur average medical expenditures of about $13,700 per year, of which about $7,900 is attributed to diabetes. People with diagnosed diabetes, on average, have medical expenditures approximately 2.3 times higher than what expenditures would be in the absence of diabetes.” Here are 5 ways available to find help with these costs on the NeedyMeds website. 1.     Apply for free or reduced prescription medications through […]

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 […]

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 […]

What Is A Specialty Pharmacy And How Can One Help Me?

By Brenda Hawkes, Patient Advocacy Manager, and Justine Dolorfino, Social Media Specialist & Communications at Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy If you have a prescription to treat a serious disease or condition such as HIV, psoriasis, or cancer, chances are that you get your medications through a specialty pharmacy. You may have wondered what the ‘specialty’ in the title means and why that makes a difference.  We can help explain that here.   What Is A Specialty Pharmacy? Specialty pharmacy is a branch of pharmacy care that helps people with special and often long-term needs. These people include those with conditions like […]

New Ways Criminals are Trying to Prey on American Consumers

Educated patients have known for years that randomly buying their medications from websites they find on Google can be dangerous.  The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy recently surveyed online pharmacies and found that 97% of them aren’t safe for Americans to order their medication from. Additionally, the past two years has seen an influx of counterfeits into the United States as fake drug wholesalers have begun bombarding small clinics and physicians with direct sales tactics promising unrealistic discounts.   Three separate shipments of a fake version of a cancer drug have been found in the United States in the last […]

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.