A NEEDLESS EXPENSE

Not long ago when I felt a cold or a sinus infection coming on, I
would go to the store, get some Sudafed pay $6-$7 for a two-week
supply and be done with it. Now I have to make an appointment with my
doctor for $150, which is covered by my insurance except for a co-pay
of $15, to get a prescription that cost me $22, which is not covered
by my insurance, because it is still ruled an "over the counter drug."

So now for $172 I can get Sudafed but it cost $165, more than it used
to. Not only does it cost more, but I get fewer pills. Granted I only
have to pay $37 plus $8 in gas money for what used to cost me $6-$7 to
buy over the counter. It cost my insurance $150 where it use to cost
them nothing.

So it's no wonder my insurance rates have gone up.

The reason why I have to go through all this rigamarole is because
someone figured out how to make some illegal drug, called meth, by
buying or stealing so much cold medicine that the Oregon legislature,
in 2005, made a law that all cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine
had to be sold through the pharmacy. Now I have to pay $38 extra for
cold medicine for the druggies to figure out another way to make the
same illegal drug using caustic battery acid.

Did it decrease the number of meth labs in the area? The police say
yes, but if you talk to an addict they say no, and it has not made it
any harder to get meth but the meth is now more caustic than ever and
more addictive.

I can't wait to have to go to a doctor to get a prescription for my
hearing aid batteries.

Jeani West

Sweet Home (March 28)