Real Stories, Real People
Patient Testimonies
I have no choice but to buy this medication.
My name is Steven Hadfield. I am 68, a long-time North Carolinian, a husband, a grandfather of three, and a football fanatic. I’m also a rare cancer patient and a diabetic — two conditions that require very, very expensive drugs. I’ve been a hard worker all of my life. I work full-time at Walmart and […]
Patient Testimonies
No one should have to live at the mercy of drug companies.
My name is Jacquie, I’m 31 and I’m a full-time Art Director in Waterloo, Iowa. In 2011, the same week as my college graduation, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, which causes painful inflammation of the digestive tract. The stress of the cost of my treatment has impacted my life in ways that I could […]
Patient Testimonies
If you own Boardwalk and Park Place, you rule the world. That’s one of the many lessons I’ve learned from my daughter Rose – who, at 19, is living and thriving with cystic fibrosis, or CF. Rose is a scholar who is attending Bowdoin College in Maine. She’s an expert dressage rider who hopes to […]
Patient Testimonies
How will my daughter afford this drug for the rest of her life?
My name is Clayton McCook, and I’m a dad and an equine veterinarian from Oklahoma. My 12-year-old daughter Lily McCook could die within days of complications from type 1 diabetes without insulin. A vial of Novolog by the drugmaker Novo Nordisk costs $340, and she needs up to two per month to survive. My wife, […]
Patient Testimonies
I've been forced to ration my insulin or simply go without.
My name is Marcus LaCour and I’m a husband, father, and minister from Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2000, during my sophomore year of high school, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. After feeling lethargic and having blurry vision, I went to the hospital for what doctors thought was just a viral infection. When they checked, […]
Patient Testimonies
What good will new drugs do if they are too expensive for me to access?
My name is Jacqueline Garibay and I’m a 19-year-old college student from Austin, Texas. Last year, I was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis, an autoimmune disorder that primarily affects my spine and has spread to most of my major joints. Without expensive biologic medications, my spine could fuse and leave me unable to walk by the […]
Patient Testimonies
I was forced to ration my supply of a drug that is as vital to me as water.
My name is Iesha Meza, and I’m from Phoenix, Arizona. In 2012, at the age of 21, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. At the time, I was married and living in North Carolina, but soon my circumstances changed –– I separated from and eventually divorced my spouse, moving back to Arizona, where I […]
Patient Testimonies
I don’t know how I’ll be able to afford treatment.
My name is Lynn Scarfuto and I live in Herkimer, New York. I’m a retired nurse, having worked with cancer patients as a nurse navigator for nine of my 25-year career. My job was to work with cancer patients to ensure they received the best treatment possible. After retirement, I was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic […]