A new book about our ailing healthcare system.
In her new book, American Sickness, Elisabeth Rosenthal, MD, an award-winning journalist, currently chief editor of Kaiser Health News, and formerly with the New York Times, recommends visiting PharmacyChecker.com to consumers who choose to import more affordable medications for themselves or their family members via online pharmacies.
In general, Ms. Rosenthal’s book explains why our healthcare system is such a mess in terms of consumer and government costs; who is responsible; how we can make things better – and most importantly – what consumers can do NOW to take on the special interests and save money. It’s a great book for citizens, healthcare advocates and policy makers who want a deeper understanding of what ails our healthcare system.
As part of her reporting at the New York Times, she sought out real stories by consumers who are facing exceedingly high prescription costs. Not surprisingly, many of them reported ordering medications from international online pharmacies, despite the technical illegality of personally importing medication (See “As Drug Costs Rise, Bending the Law is One Remedy”). Through her coverage of this issue and listening to consumers, Ms. Rosenthal learned that people, including doctors, were looking to PharmacyChecker.com to find vetted international pharmacies and compare drug prices to find safe and affordable medication.
For that reporting, Ms. Rosenthal was awarded the 2014 Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Reporting. The Cohn judges stated: “Rosenthal not only investigates and documents the often exorbitant price tags of common medical procedures and treatments…but also produces sublimely accessible multimedia stories that touch and matter greatly to patients, healthcare professionals and policy makers.”
Ms. Rosenthal recommends PharmacyChecker.com both as a resource to make sure consumers order from pharmacies vetted for good quality and the “the medicines you are ordering are not fakes,” as well as offering consumers the ability to compare prescription drug prices.
Drug prices are the #1 healthcare cost concern in America and 45 million Americans did not fill their prescriptions in 2016 because of cost. I applaud Elisabeth Rosenthal for her efforts to seriously report about this issue on behalf of exploited consumers across the country.
