Say hello to my little friend, the $110 bottle of eardrops:
I spent a couple of hours last Sunday at a bowling alley that apparently hasn’t been vacuumed since Nixon was President, and about halfway through the party, I was coughing and sneezing. By Monday afternoon, I wasn’t congested that much, but I felt lightheaded. The best way I could describe it was the way you feel when you first get off a merry-go-round that was spinning really fast. That feeling like something is shifting inside your head and you are powerless to stop it.
Tuesday morning, the lightheadedness was worse and constant. I called my doctor’s office only to learn that the next available appointment was in JULY. I took a Claritin and tried to stick it out, but by the time I had to drive to pick up Ryan from an after-school activity, I knew I couldn’t wait any longer. I dropped Ryan off at home to watch Nathan and Kaitlyn, and drove to a nearby Urgent Care. The waiting room was surprisingly empty and I got right in to see the doctor.
Diagnosis: the OUTER part of my right ear was, quote, “very red”. He never said infected, and when I specifically asked if there was trapped fluid in my ear, he said no. So basically, my ear canal on the right side was irritated, and congestion was trapped deep in my sinuses, causing the lightheadedness. The doctor left the room for a minute and came back holding a prescription for eardrops. I was surprised, because I’ve always taken an oral antibiotic for ear problems. I took the prescription to the Target pharmacy, spent 20 minutes browsing, then came back to pick it up.
The pharmacy cashier had a frown on her face. “I’m sorry, but your insurance only covered $9.00 of this. Your charge is $110.00″. Excuse me? Did she just say one hundred and ten dollars for 2.5 milliliters of medication? Medication I’m only going to take for seven days? The pharmacist walked over and took a look. “Oh”, she said. This medication has no generic substitute. Your prescription coverage has a much higher copay on brand name medications. You could go back and ask for a different prescription for something in a generic.”
Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. I was already being irresponsible just by driving while experiencing lightheadedness. I wasn’t going to make my way out of the store, drive back to the Urgent Care, sit in the waiting room, and then ask the doctor for a different prescription! Fortunately for us, my husband has a fixed amount taken out of every paycheck and deposited into a Health Equity account for paying out-of-pocket medical expenses. It comes with a handy VISA debit card. I whipped that out and crossed my fingers that there was $110 in the account while swiping the card.
I googled the medication when I got home, and learned that Ciprofloxacin is an antibiotic that is used to treat bacterial infections, and dexamethasone is a cortical steroid. And while there is a generic available for both ingredients individually, there isn’t a generic for this particular combination. Which is why Blue Cross only covered $9.00 and I paid $110, for HALF A TEASPOON of medication.
My ear had better never get infected ever again.
More From table4five
- These are a few of my favorite things
- My Favorite Posts of 2010
- Blogworthy Moments Courtesy of My Kids
table4five Recommends
- The Wrath of Google! (Chad Nicely)
- Mama of the Week on The Twitter Mamas (ageorgiaangel)
Twitter: aimige
says:
Must be something going around.. I started feeling pressure in my left ear on Sunday night.. I used our Ear Check thermometer that I got for the kids and it said to see a doctor.. found out yesterday I have fluid in my right ear and an infection in my left.. I have never had one before..I am on 7 days of antibiotics… hope you are feeling better soon.
Why is medication so high? I had to get my son eye drops once & the bottle was less than an ounce of drops & cost $60.00. Geez, you can’t afford to get sick anymore.
Geez? That costs a lot. Why are medications so overrated? You should be more careful now, don’t spend another a hundred bucks only for medication. I hope you’re a lot better now.
Unreal. I just ran into a similar situation with a medication which was made up of a combination of drugs with individually have generic brands, but together only have the brand name extremely expensive kind. Hope your ear gets better soon. Cheers!
.-= Edge Sanders´s last blog ..Edge Sander Safety Tips =-.
What a deal! Only $55 per ear.
THAT is ridiculous.
.-= Jen @ BigBinder´s last blog ..Manifestations of Success =-.
Twitter: lisamariemary
says:
I had that prescribed for me once and I didn’t buy it. I also had an oral ordered, so I just went with that and hoped that that would do the trick! Some meds are just crazy! Hope you’re feeling better now!
.-= Lisa Marie Mary´s last blog ..The Energy In Our Children’s Hearts =-.
I must say that it is very stratge and unusual medicine due to its ingredients… I feel not secure if I’ll have to use these drops.
I had a similar symptom of light-headed dizziness (which I have never experienced before) which really freaked me out. I hadn’t gotten into anything other than spending time at my usual workplace and studios.
However, when I went to the clinic about it all they could tell me was that there was a sinus infection and that all I could do was take some Tylenol cold and sinus. I’m surprised that your Urgent Care didn’t suggest anything similar before going to the extreme $100 solution!
My advice to all my friends, and through online posts and comments is: Read the labels! And don’t buy the stuff until you read about the constituents.
BTW, Elizabeth, I would not drink Diet Coke at all.
Back in 2005, my wife was pregnant and she went and bought a jar of “no sugar added jam”. Yes, I read the label and it was like “…Sucralose…”. Chemist in me got alarmed right away, because in no way Sucralose can be natural sugar, I can still list all of them from top of my head.
So, I went online to learn that the Sucralose was a chlorinated sugar. It’s marketed, heavily, under Splenda brand, and probably many other. At that time, it was not even approved in EU.
.-= Mike Lee´s last blog ..Importance of the First Ingredient =-.
Twitter: weedoodlestudio
says:
Next time try an ear candle from the health food store I get them all the time for the same dizzy fealing and they work great. Only 3.00 for two candles.
What?? Your insurance only covered $9 of $110? That’s crazy – makes you wonder what’s the point of insurance! Remind me not to have any health trouble!
Twitter: cleht fracases
says:
It is better to stay away from such “medicines”….It may be dangerous to your health. Sincerely speaking, these drops don’t cause my trust.