Provigil Patient Assistance Program Question

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That's a common problem. I don't understand why some doctors prescribe medication that is not approved for a certain disease. Then the patient has to pay a lot although he's insured. A few years ago a doc advised my mother to buy Avil and she also had to pay the full price. Sometimes I really ask myself if medical insurance really makes sense ...
 


















so what would you suggest for a law student who is unable to get the medication because the PAP doesn't work if you have health insurance, and the health insurance I have has a price cap so the copay escalated from $55 to $125 to $345 over a three month period. I didn't take the medication from January- August b/c when I graduated from undergrad my mother's insurance dropped me and I couldn't get any on my own b/c I have a pre-existing condition. So at 24, I threw up for seven months straight b/c of the massive amounts of caffiene I had to consume just to get to and from work safely and be able to function while I was there. I am about to take finals, in law school you only get to take one, but I couldn't afford the $345 for my meds. I can barely stay awake for class and have informed all of my professors if I walk out it's b/c I couldn't keep my head up, not b/c I despise the law. so what would suggest someone in my shoes do. I have tried the nuvigil, it wasn't as effective. It was as if I only took half a provigil.

this is something that affects me consistently and is very dangerous. falling asleep driving, falling asleep taking tests/exams, and I never know I'm sleeping until I "blink" and my sorroundings are different, or the page I just wrote two paragraphs on is blank, or I'm driving 120 mph and closing in another vehicle at 10 am.

I don't expect free medicine, but for something that I pretty much need to survive, to pursue my dreams, I expect to be able to pay for it. At this rate, I'm going to have to drop out of law school so that I can try and get a job that will offer health insurance without such a small prescription cap, $500. Then I will have to fight with the whole pre-existing condition thing all over again. So great minds of Cephalon, what assistance would you provide or suggest for someone in my situation b/c it's getting pretty bad.
 






Anonymous said:
so what would you suggest for a law student who is unable to get the medication because the PAP doesn't work if you have health insurance, and the health insurance I have has a price cap so the copay escalated from $55 to $125 to $345 over a three month period. I didn't take the medication from January- August b/c when I graduated from undergrad my mother's insurance dropped me and I couldn't get any on my own b/c I have a pre-existing condition. So at 24, I threw up for seven months straight b/c of the massive amounts of caffiene I had to consume just to get to and from work safely and be able to function while I was there. I am about to take finals, in law school you only get to take one, but I couldn't afford the $345 for my meds. I can barely stay awake for class and have informed all of my professors if I walk out it's b/c I couldn't keep my head up, not b/c I despise the law. so what would suggest someone in my shoes do. I have tried the nuvigil, it wasn't as effective. It was as if I only took half a provigil.

this is something that affects me consistently and is very dangerous. falling asleep driving, falling asleep taking tests/exams, and I never know I'm sleeping until I "blink" and my sorroundings are different, or the page I just wrote two paragraphs on is blank, or I'm driving 120 mph and closing in another vehicle at 10 am.

I don't expect free medicine, but for something that I pretty much need to survive, to pursue my dreams, I expect to be able to pay for it. At this rate, I'm going to have to drop out of law school so that I can try and get a job that will offer health insurance without such a small prescription cap, $500. Then I will have to fight with the whole pre-existing condition thing all over again. So great minds of Cephalon, what assistance would you provide or suggest for someone in my situation b/c it's getting pretty bad.
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Reps presently have vouchers for FREE 30-days of Nuvigil. Ask your dr if he/she has them and if not, have the dr ask their Rep for some! You can actually use a voucher each month, unless you live in Mass. Ignore what the voucher says on the back and have your pharmacist run it through.

If that doesn't work, (it should if your dr sees reps), go on the website Xubex.com. It's a mail order website that will also give you Nuvigil 150mg for FREE for 30 days. Unfortunately they offer just the 150mg, not 250mg. They would like to have refills, that's how they make their money, but you don't have to go through them for your refills. Just have your dr write a RX for 30 days, no refills on one RX and fax/mail it in. They will send you 30 days for free! (paid for by Cephalon)

If none of that works, make sure your dr gives you a "Co-pay savings card". You will pay the first $10. of your co-pay, and the next $50. is paid for by the company for the next year.

You will not be able to get any coupons with Provigil, period. Nuvigil is the longer-lasting isomer of Provigil. It can't be less effective than Provigil if it is dosed correctly. Have your doctor give you a RX for 250mg.

I hope that helps and good luck!
 






This interested me (I have idiopathic hypersomnia) because I will be attending law school in the fall and am looking into insurance options. I can be on my father's insurance, paying a high premium, but it will only take me about halfway through law school and it doesn't seem like it is going to go away. I am looking into other options for health insurance- I have heard the ABA has one that is better than the 'hit by a bus' insurance (as my dr. called it).

I've taken provigil for the past 2 years, and it has allowed me to live my life. I have recently needed higher dosage though, so my doctor suggested I try nuvigil. It seems to work the same as provigil, and is a lot cheaper. I would definitely suggest checking out nuvigil.
Regarding side effects, I'm kind of a grin and bear it person, but on provigil I developed a lot of acne (which wasn't cleared up by any of the things the dermatologist put me on), headaches, problems waking up in the morning, and would typically crash mid-afternoon. I only recently started on nuvigil, but I've had some dry mouth/thirst etc., no notable headaches or crash (though I seem to still need a second dose of either provig. or nuvigil to get me through the day).

Would be interested in hearing more about your adventures in law school with hypersomnia while I'm trying to prepare for next year!
 






Anonymous said:
Speaking of ignorance. Do you also get angry when you hear a 2,500 square foot house costs 250K in Indiana, but 950K in Los Angeles? Why can't they all just be the same price? It's just not fair!!

You can't say you've "never asked for a damn thing from anyone," when you're asking for free medicine right now.

If you literally need Provigil to live, I think $296 per month is a hell of a bargain. If it's the one thing that gives you the ability to function, you should be thankful that Cephalon paid all the money they did to develop it, test it, and bring it to market and make it available to you. If it's the ONLY thing that works, I'd ask my employer for a stipend to help, shop pharmacies to find the best price, and cut whatever I could out of my budget to pay for it out of pocket.

And I call bullshit on the whole, "It's medicine or food," line. No, it's not. There have got to be at least 5 other things you can cut before you have to skip a meal. Cancel cable TV and internet, that will save you about $100/month...replace your cell phone with a TracFone...carpool...replace dining out with meals at/from home...replace your car with a cheaper one or public transit...cut out smoking and alcohol. Most people who drink and smoke regularly can easily spend $300 on both each month.

Perhaps Cephalon shouldn't provide free medication to anyone. If we didn't have a PAP that was out of money, you wouldn't have anything to be angry about.

Think of it this way. I don't know where you work, but at the end of the day you provide some kind of product or service. How many of your customers that really like your product do you give it to free of charge?
If they say, "I really like this thing you made and I really need it," do you reply, "Well why didn't you say so? Here, take as many as you want, free of charge."
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Apparently you have never had to take something just so you don't fall asleep at a red light or can fall asleep while just standing!!!
 






I came on here to get some information about a medicine and actually got a much needed laugh by the slam fest this thread has turned into! Hahahahahaha, I just wish we could all chill out and there wasn't such a disparity between the cost of living and wages. Oh well, guess King Jesus will fix it all eventually!
 






The OP asked the question in '08. It is now '11 and the price for Provigil at my WalMart if $800.00 month. I take 1/4 a day because it's all I can afford. I have sleep apnea and I am having a sleep study done. That will lower the price greatly. It is scary when you have to pull over on the side of the road so you don't run into someone. I can't stay awake no matter how much sleep I get. The Provigil is beneficial for many things, among them clearer thinking. Too bad its so expensive.
 






Anonymous said:
Is Provigil approved for Lyme Disease you numbnuts? No it isn't. The answer is Provigil is not approved for Lyme Disease. It is approved for treatment in Shift Work Sleep Disorder, Narcolepsy and sleep apnea.

Why are you answering someone who is obviously not receiving Provigil as indicated? I would think Cephalon has 450 million reasons to not do that.
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If doctors only used meds for what they were truly approved for half of the drugs would be pulled of the market dumb a**.
The person was asking a simple questions and doesn't need your Smart A** answers for something the doctor gave them to help.
 






Anonymous said:
Apparently you have never had to take something just so you don't fall asleep at a red light or can fall asleep while just standing!!!
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I agree, Go find another thread to post in. Or many justice will slap you in the face one day and you will be in the boat of having to take medication that is out of reach for you financially.
 






My monthly insurance co-pay is 25% of the cost of my Provigil prescription. My insurance company just informed me that my monthly co-pay was increasing to $627 a month. The pharmacist was so staggered that she called the insurance company to verify that there was no mistake. No mistake, the insurance company said. However, they'd cut a deal with Cephalon so they could offer Nuvigil for much, much less. What does a board-certified neurologist know about prescribing? Cephalon knows what his patients need.

I hope the feds finally wise up at throw the book at Cephalon. They've over-played their hand.
 






Anonymous said:
My monthly insurance co-pay is 25% of the cost of my Provigil prescription. My insurance company just informed me that my monthly co-pay was increasing to $627 a month. The pharmacist was so staggered that she called the insurance company to verify that there was no mistake. No mistake, the insurance company said. However, they'd cut a deal with Cephalon so they could offer Nuvigil for much, much less. What does a board-certified neurologist know about prescribing? Cephalon knows what his patients need.

I hope the feds finally wise up at throw the book at Cephalon. They've over-played their hand.
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NEWSFLASH!

Cephalon doesn't exist, and Provigil is no longer promoted.

Have a nice day and thank you for calling Teva.
 






Rian J Stockbower
Archive for the ‘Provigil’ tag
Profit maximization in pharmaceuticals

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From a microeconomics exam recently. The source article is "How a Drug Maker Tries to Outwit Generics" from the WSJ. (If that link doesn't work, here is a PDF of the fulltext.)

Describe the nature of demand for Provigil. How much market power is there and why? If Cephalon raised the price of Provigil by 74%, with no apparent increase in production costs, does that mean that Cephalon was not initially pricing to maximize profits from Provigil? By raising the price, are they now profit-maximizing? Discuss. How would you expect the introduction of generics to affect the demand for Provigil? The price of Provigil has been raised before Nuvigil is launched. Discuss how the demand for Nuvigil would have been affected if the price of Provigil was not increased. Evaluate Cephalon's strategy as a means of achieving its goal of corporate profit maximization.

Provigil is in extremely high demand; the trouble is that it is expensive, and it is almost never covered by people's insurance. Right now, the average wholesale price (AWP) for 30 count of Provigil 200mg is $361. Provigil is also in an interesting place in terms of patent protection. It's not a new drug, and through manipulating pharmaceutical patent law, Cephalon (who acquired the IP for the drug when they bought out Lafon) has been able to extend the life of the patent two or three times.
 






Anonymous said:
It's sinful that you choose to live in such ignorance... A TV is not needed to live. Cephalon is the source of my anger, and rightfully so. The same drug is available in Canada 90 pills for $170 Cephalon sells it in the US for 30 pills for $296. Yet I can't purchase it and come accross the border. With that mark up, Cephalon should never close the assistance program.
Lastly, you pathetic pig I have never asked for a damn thing from anyone and work my ass off rather than accept disability. Yes, I do deserve to have help with the one thing that gives me the ability to function. Perhaps Cephalon shouldn't be providing free medication to those who don't maintain employment.
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Thankfully my insurance will cover pro vigil but yes I don't care how good of a product cephalon created -- it shouldn't cost us taxpayers anything to get a medicine that will give us a somewhat normal life. And yes you definitely do deserve help to have this medicine. People shouldn't have to choose between eating and a "life sustaining"medication. Without this pill I couldn't do a lot of things. Sure we can wait till we get fired and suck off the system but sadly narcolepsy isn't really considered as a disability when applying for social security disability.
 
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