Each Sunday evening I open my weekly calendar book to see what appointments I have in the upcoming seven days. Yesterday I viewed my social calendar and found that I have multiple appointments every day of the week, AND EVERY ONE OF THEM IS WITH A DOCTOR OR NURSE!
Here’s a recap:
1. I have an appointment every day of the week for an injection of 1 mg of a drug that has the following incidence of adverse side effects: nausea (70.5%), anemia (69.5%), thrombocytopenia (65.5%), vomiting (54.1%), pyrexia (51.8%), leukopenia (48.2%), diarrhea (36.4%), injection site erythema (35.0%), constipation (33.6%), neutropenia (32.3%), and ecchymosis (30.5%). Other adverse reactions included dizziness (18.6%), chest pain (16.4%), febrile neutropenia (16.4%), myalgia (15.9%), injection site reaction (13.6%), and malaise (10.9%).
NOW WHAT DO YOU THINK THE HOSPITAL GETS PAID BY MEDICARE FOR EACH 1 mg SHOT OF THIS DRUG WHICH HAS A VERY HIGH RATE OF CAUSING SOME PRETTY BAD SIDE EFFECTS. IF YOU GUESSED $5,700 PER INJECTION YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD. THAT’S A COOL $39,900 PER WEEK. I HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH CELGENE, THE MANUFACTURER, GETS PAID BY THE HOSPITAL.
2. I have an appointment with my cardiologist on Tuesday and with my optometrist on Thursday.
3. I have two appointments with a physical therapist to see if he can help me walk.
4. I also have an appointment to have my blood tested and evaluated by a nurse and oncologist.
5. I have a pain in my shoulder, two sites my dermatologist should look at and my athlete’s feet problem has taken over my toenails and I’ll need to see a podiatrist, but I don’t have time to squeeze them in this week.
All in all this week will probably cost Uncle Sam just under $50,000. But, that’s chicken feed compared to what he will have to shell out for my next round of “chemo” at $27,000 per pop.
CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT MEDICARE HAS TO PAY OUT FOR SOMEONE WHO ISN’T AS FIT-AS-A-FIDDLE AS I AM?
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