UC AND THE NEW DRUG LIALDA (CANT AFFORD IT)

[Guest guest]

Hey guys this is from Mount Sani Hospital in NYC.

I went to see Dr Ullman my GI doc and he prescribed Lialda for my uc.

It costs damn near 800 and medicare won't cover it or medicaid. I

don't know if any of you have experienced this, also i take asacal

(but hardly does anything) the predisone at 10mgs is the only thing

that keeps my UC stable for now.

As for psc, i just got a reoccurence of it recently. I was

transplanted in 2005 so right now i'm dealing with the obstacles. I

have a ptc tube in my side and it's capped. It seems like i'm going

to have this for years because the stone or sludge in my bile duct is

slow to move and plus the bile duct is narrowing. My doctors seem

clueless on what they can do, they don't have a long enough scope for

me to fix the bile duct problem. Even if they did they could make a

mistake and cause an infection so i guess their hands are tied. The

good news is my liver enzymes are normal or getting their and i

maintain my weight due to the predisone which i must get off soon but

i can't. I wish i could get this ptc tube out my side because it's

uncomfortable and plus taking a shower is a pain. Anybody have advice

on the UC issue and how can i take a shower with the ptc tube without

getting it wet and not using all these bandanges. right now i use wax

paper and i use a string and tie it around my waist tight to block

the shower water hitting the bandaged up ptc tube. It has worked so

far but it's still a pain because i get this pinching sensation.

Thanks for the replies in an advance.

[Guest guest]

Sometimes

all it takes for Medicare or Medicaid to agree to pay for a drug is a call from

your doctor. My son has had

problems in the past, but 1 call from his doctor and the problem was solved. I “think” Lialda is fairly

new, so that might be part of the problem too. Most insurers don’t like paying

for a brand name, especially if there isn’t a generic form available. Last resort

you can probably get a prescription for Asacol, I “think” it’s

basically the same drug, but instead of taking it only once a day, you have to

take it several times a day. I’m

not a doctor, so be sure to call yours.

I’d try getting your doctor to call Medicare first.

Barb in Texas - Together in the Fight, Whatever it

Takes!

Son Ken (33) UC 91 - PSC 99 - Tx 6/21 & 6/30/07 @ Baylor in

Dallas