Wyeth Double Crosses New Yorkers

I am copying below an email from Shawna Irish, a Health Advocacy graduate student and Medicare Rights Fellow. Shawna has been counseling older people about Medicare Part D (see her posted comment about AARP Medicare Part D plan on a previous blog).

Friends and fellow advocates,

I am sending this email to alert you of a huge action recently taken by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. As many of you may know, EPIC - NY state's pharmaceutical assistance program, provides excellent drug coverage to New Yorkers over the age of 65. What's great about EPIC is that it covers most drugs, has pretty low copays, and is creditable to the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit. New Yorkers love EPIC and want it to keep providing great coverage. Sadly, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals has pulled out of EPIC (see attached). This means that drugs such as Ativan, Effexor, Premarin, Prempro and Protonix will no longer be covered by EPIC, leaving many seniors having to foot the entire bill themselves. Truly, a sad day for many seniors.

I'm not sure if this is a worthwile venture, but I'm at a loss for any other ideas. I have included the address for 2 headquarters for Wyeth. I am suggesting a letter
writing campaign. The Medicare Rights Center has gotten the word out to the press about the situation, but really is not able to do much else. If anyone has any better ideas, please share them with me. This is a huge upset, as Wyeth drugs are quite popular and often hard to substitute.

Here are the addresses for Wyeth:
Wyeth Worldwide Headquarters
5 Giralda Farms
Madison, New Jersey 07940

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Worldwide Headquarters 500 Arcola Road
Collegeville, PA 19426 Phone 610-902-1200

Thank you,
Shawna Irish

This is the letter New Yorkers received from EPIC, which includes a list of the medications they will no longer be able to get discounted through the State program:

Dear EPIC Participant:
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals has announced it will no longer participate in the EPIC Program. As a result, the drugs listed below will no longer be available through EPIC and you will need to either talk to your physician about substituting another drug or pay the full price of Wyeth Pharmaceutical products.

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals has indicated that the reason they are withdrawing from the EPIC Program is that they are no longer willing to provide discounts required by law that help make sure New York State pays reasonable prices for their drug products. As a result, EPIC will no longer be able to cover drugs that are manufactured by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.

As noted above, if you are now taking any drugs manufactured by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, please speak to your physician as soon as possible to find out if there is another product which can be substituted. Most other manufacturers do participate in EPIC, and may offer products which can be used instead of the Wyeth Pharmaceutical products.

The following lists the Wyeth Pharmaceutical drugs being used by EPIC enrollees that EPIC will no longer be able to cover as of February 1, 2006.

Ativan Inderal Materna Phenergan Protonix Sectral Zosyn Cordarone Inderide Minocin Phospholine Iodide Pyrazinamide Sonata Declomycin Ismo Mylotarg Premarin Rapamune Tenex Diamox Isordil Neumega Premphase Reglan Zebeta Effexor Lodine Oruvail Prempro Rheumatrex Ziac

Again, we urge you to consult with your physician or your pharmacist before you need to have your prescriptions filled. We deeply regret the decision by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals to withdraw from the EPIC Program. If you have any questions, please feel free to call the EPIC Helpline at 1-800-332-3742.

Sincerely, Julie A. Naglieri
Director