Free Migraine Medication for the Unemployed

If you've lost your job this year (since January 1), are uninsured and have been using a Pfizer medication for at least 3 months, you may be eligible for Pfizer's FREE medicine program. Starting Thursday, you can call 866-706-2400 toll-free to sign up for this program. Starting July 1, you'll be able to apply online on the Pfizer Helpful Answers website. This site is available now and has a lot of information about this and other Pfizer aid programs.

If you've lost your job, you'll have to sign a statement confirming you are suffering financial hardship and provide a notice from your employer confirming your job loss. Pfizer is accepting applications through December 31 and will provide you with your medication until you get insurance again - up to 12 months.

This program consists of over 70 medications including antiseizure medications, antidepressants and heart medications, used to prevent Migraine. They also manufacture Relpax, the Triptan used to abort an acute Migraine attack as well as various other medications a Migraine sufferer uses.

For more information click HERE.

Pharmaceutical Ads - Give Me a Break!

I've had it up to my eyeballs with pharmaceutical advertising! If you're like me, you're probably sick of these controversial ads too. Every time we turn on the TV, we're bombarded with ads for conditions such as Migraine, Elevated Cholesterol, Depression, Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and of course Erectile Dysfunction.

Do you know who Dr. Robert Jarvik is? My tweenager does. He watches enough TV to know that Dr. Jarvik is the spokesman for Pfizer's cholesterol lowering medication, Lipitor, and that he invented the artificial heart. He can also recite the words verbatim, “When diet and exercise aren’t enough, adding Lipitor significantly lowers cholesterol”. The New York Times tells us what my son and millions of other people in TV land don't know:

...though Jarvik graduated from medical school, he's not licensed to practice medicine or to write prescriptions. He doesn't see patients. He was a consultant to Lipitor maker Pfizer, under contract for $1.35 million. And he didn't start taking Lipitor until a month after he started doing the ads. Oh, and that wasn't him rowing; it was someone who looked like him in a similar jacket.

Because of these ads, my preteen can also explain what Erectile Dysfunction is, tell you about Viagra, warn you "in the rare event of an erection lasting more than 4 hours, seek immediate medical help to avoid long-term injury" and sing all the words to the "Viva Viagra" song.

Even though I'm sick of these commercials, one good thing has come out of this...COUPONS, REBATES, VOUCHERS AND FREE TRIALS. For more information on this see my next post.