Lost your job, but don’t want to stop taking your medications? Yes, including that popular little blue pill?
Good news! If that medication is one made by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, you could get it for free.
Starting on Thursday, the drugmaker will provide more than 70 prescription drugs from Lipitor to Viagra at no cost for up to a year to people who have lost their jobs and health insurance. Some of the other drugs on free drug list include the painkiller Celebrex and Fibromyalgia treatment Lyrica.
The idea originated from the company's employees.
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"Everybody knows now a neighbor, a relative who has lost their job and is losing their insurance. People are definitely hurting out there," Dr. Jorge Puente, Pfizer's head of pharmaceuticals outside the U.S. and Europe and a champion of the project, told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday. "Our aim is to help people bridge this point."
So how do you take part in this deal? Pfizer has set up a few eligibility requirements: You must have lost your job since January 1 and have been on Pfizer drugs for three months or more. You’ll also have to sign a statement saying you’re suffering financial hardship and provide a “pink slip” or similar employer notice.
To sign up for the program you can call a toll-free number, 866-706-2400. If you take a drug that’s not on the list of those being offered for free, the program will refer you to other company aid programs.
Also, starting July 1, patients can apply through a Pfizer website, which has other Pfizer aid programs.
Officials for New York-based Pfizer say they don’t know how much the program will cost and haven’t put a cap on spending for it.
Pfizer Global Research & Development is based in Groton and New London.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
