«We pay the horror receipts in pharmacies every month» [LETTER TO THE EDITOR]

Almost one third of Poles suffer from chronic diseases. One of the most common is diabetes. Both types of this disease require regular medication. A patient suffering from type 1, i.e. insulin-dependent, wrote to our editorial office. “I, and together with me many chronically ill people, we regularly pay dread receipts in pharmacies”, writes our reader. We present the letter in its entirety.

1. “Diabetes is not only insulin”, writes our reader. “With age, I have to buy more and more drugs, because the disease affects many organs” – emphasizes in a letter to MedTvoiLokony
2. As he explains, diabetes destroys other organs over time. «Irreversibly spoils the eyesight, kidneys, affects the skin, teeth, joints, heart, brain, worsens immunity, libido, increases susceptibility to bacteria, viruses, mycoses, itching. Each visit to the pharmacy is a really painful adventure »
3. The letter is a response to a series of texts about “horror receipts”, that is, the high cost of holiday attractions: hotels or meals in restaurants. “If not for diabetes, not only would I be healthier in every aspect, but each year I would have enough money left in my wallet for an additional trip abroad” – writes the author of the letter
4. More information can be found on the Onet homepage

We quote the reader’s letter in its entirety

Horror receipts at the pharmacy

I have recently flashed a news, I don’t know if it is current or some holiday memories about another “horror receipt” or a bill for dinner in a seaside town. And I realized that I, and with me a huge crowd of chronically ill people, we pay such horror receipts regularly in pharmacies.

I have had diabetes for almost 30 years, which is more than half my life. Type I, meaning a lifetime that cannot be undone by any treatment. Insulin-dependent. This means I have to take my main drug four times a day. Before each main meal and in the evening, the so-called insulin. base. During all these years, the doctors changed the type of insulin for me a few, if not a dozen times, as well as the method of administration (reusable, disposable pens). One thing has not changed. The need to visit the pharmacy every month or two. And each time an expense of several hundred zlotys. This is how much insulin costs, plus more and more additional medications over time. Diabetes deteriorates more and more organs with age.

Of course, insulin is reimbursed. Patients with diabetes in most cases do not pay 100 percent. for drugs. They pay a lump sum or 30% (with Toujeo basal insulin it is over PLN 200, enough for two or three months).

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So the rest is paid by the state. They say “it pays” but the government is not an American uncle with a suitcase of dollars. He pays what he gets from taxes, including mine. So I pay part of the amount for insulin in the pharmacy, and I also pay for the rest.

Others have it even worse

The standard, though not necessarily voluntary or favorite, behavior of people with chronic diseases is to follow the list of reimbursed drugs published every two months by the Ministry of Health. In the case of insulins, the changes are usually small (a few or a dozen zlotys for one or the other side of the packaging), but rather they do not change that often, but from time to time there are surprises. This was the case a few years ago with the Lantus Solostar insulin. The ministry decided that another preparation deserved more funding, which was done at the expense of the “consumers” of Lantus. Suddenly they had to pay 50 percent for it. more. Of course, this allowed others to pay less. Someone has it worse, so that someone else could have better. Because, as they say, in nature it will always go to zero.

Even with this “better”. Diabetes are better off anyway. There are a lot of them, and drugs are not that expensive. And yet there are people with more serious, rare diseases whose treatment is much more expensive. I can really only imagine what people feel when, after the new reimbursement comes into force, they suddenly find out that they will have to pay four figures or more a month for drugs.

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Diabetes is not only insulin

Going back to the horror receipts that diabetes is paying. One insulin runs out every few weeks (for me it is a short-acting Apidra – one package, i.e. 5 pens costs PLN 34 and is enough for a month), and the second one every few weeks (Toujeo).

For this strips for blood glucose meters. Glucometers are used to measure sugar, a diabetic must do this several times a day. Sometimes even eight or ten. The pack of strips is an average of 50 pieces. It lasts for a few days, a week. The straps are cheap. They cost a few zlotys in lump sum. It’s not much. But I remember the times when they were free, or the price was expressed in pennies. In addition, other adjuvants in the form of tablets (Forxiga, payable 100%) that lower the level of glucose.

This is not the end of expenses. Diabetes after 20-30 years irretrievably spoils the eyesight, kidneys, affects the skin, teeth, joints, heart, brain, worsens immunity, libido, increases susceptibility to bacteria, viruses, mycoses, itching. So in time you have to buy – for life – drugs for the eyes (Bioretinof or Galvenox – 100% of the fee, about PLN 25-30), heart (Isoptin), kidneys (Tritace) and many other damaged organs. And every now and then they get some occasional ailments, so antibiotics, antifungal drugs, protective drugs. Each visit to the pharmacy is a really painful adventure.

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If it weren’t for diabetes, not only would I be healthier in every aspect, but each year I would have enough money left in my wallet for an additional trip abroad.

Do you want to tell us your story or draw attention to a common health problem? Write to the address [email protected] #Together we can do more

Also read:

1. Type 2 diabetes can be reversed by losing weight. Groundbreaking research results
2. It affects every 4th of us. Six diseases that obesity can make us into
3. Diabetes is a major risk factor for Alzheimer’s. What is happening in the patient’s brain?

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