How to Get Your Prescriptions for Free

by Fibromyalgia Network on Thursday, April 14, 2011:

By Richard N. Podell, M.D., M.P.H.
April J. is a 33 year old single mother with severe fibromyalgia. She called me crying last week because she can’t afford the Cymbalta I prescribed—her health insurance plan doesn’t cover drugs. I’d given her 4 weeks of samples, which had reduced her average pain score from an 8 of 10 down to a 4.

I’m posting today to be sure that everyone knows about the pharmaceutical industry programs that provide free medications for people who lack insurance that covers meds and have “relatively” low annual income—even up into the $30-40,000 range.

The easiest source: go to pparx.org, the website of Prescription Assistance Program. Or call them at 1-888-477-2669. Pparx.org tracks more than 400 public or private programs that cover more than 4,000 different drugs. So you can use it for any health issue, not just fibromyalgia.

There is no charge for this service. (Other websites also keep lists, but some charge for referral.)

When I went to pparx.org this week, the Cymbalta was listed but there was nothing for Savella. In fact, Savella does have a program, pparx.org just hasn’t caught up.

For the Savella assistance program call 1 800-851-0758 or go to Forest.com/pap (pap stands for patient assistance program).
You can go to Cymablta’s program directly at Lilly.com/responsibility/servingpatients or call 1-800-545-6962.