Are you a senior citizen and having stomach surgery or a knee/hip replacement in the near future? Or will you be confined to bed for an extended period due to another surgery? If you answered yes to either of those questions, then you might want to ask your doctor about a medication called Lovenox.
This prescription drug, also known as an enoxaparin sodium injection, works to prevent blood clots. As described on the manufacturer’s website, the drug (in shot form) “…alters the blood’s normal clotting process, so clots can’t form as easily, and neither can a potentially fatal pulmonary embolism.†More specifically, Lovenox “…is an anticoagulant, which slows down the formation of clots by reducing the amounts of certain clotting factors in your bloodâ€(Sanofi).
Although use of Lovenox does have positive benefits for the patient, and it is easy to use, one aspect of it is often overlooked by physicians – the cost. If you are a senior citizen on Medicare, Lovenox is not covered; this fact could lead to hardships for many people.
For example, my mother, who recently had a bowel resection, spent close to $1,500 for a 14 day supply, and as a result, she and my father had to dip into their small savings account to cover the rest of their bills for the month.
The reason she needed the drug? She had been diagnosed with a blood clot in her arm as a result of the surgery, and it is our understanding that this medication would help to get rid of it. I do thank the manufacturer, Sanofi, for developing this miracle drug that would probably save my mother’s life; however, I don’t understand why it isn’t covered by Medicare, or why it is so expensive.
Being a concerned daughter, I did try to locate the generic version of the medication, but to no avail. As it was, the pharmacy had to quickly order the Lovenox from a source outside of our city. (This seemed strange to me, as they had plenty of it in the hospital for use before they sent this frail old woman home).
Since there was no generic version available, I then searched the Lovenox website in an attempt to find coupons to lower the cost of the 14 day supply. Again, I had no luck. You would think the company would understand the hardship that such an expensive medicine would cause senior citizens, or you would hope that Medicare would approve the drug, as thousands of elderly people have stomach surgery, knee/hip replacements each year in the United States, and thousands more have severely restricted mobility due to illness.
In my quest to learn more about this medication, I found that it is a potential life saver, but I also found out the effects it has on the pocketbook can be extremely painful. Older people with only Medicare coverage have enough expenses; wouldn’t it be great if the manufacturer or the government took this into account?
Tweet This Post