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Free Drugs Scam
No Need to Pay for Information on Free, Discounted
Prescription Drugs
April 24, 2005 - Have you gotten spam email
claiming that free or low-cost prescription drugs “are just a phone call
away”? Have you visited a website or seen a newspaper ad offering to
help you get free prescription drugs — for a fee? If so, you may be
looking at a scam. Senior citizens are the most often targeted in these
scams and many contact SeniorJournal.com with questions about these
offers.
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Free Medicine Direct??? |
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According to Carol
Foster, Better Business Bureau branch manager in Fayetteville,
Tennessee, a newspaper ad there referred consumers to an 800
telephone number for a company in Melbourne, Fla., operating as
Free Medicine Direct. Consumers are told they can receive the
medicines they need without the hassle or expense.
The ads read, "No
insurance? No problem. No money to pay for expensive
medications? Let us help you find free medicines."
"However, what is
not disclosed to consumers is an administration fee of $199 for
assistance from the company," said Foster.
Here's the real
truth about free medicine.
"There are
prescription drug companies that offer free or low-cost drugs
for people who do not have insurance, cannot afford to pay for
medication or have exhausted their insurance's annual
allowance," Foster explained. "However, this particular company
is not one of them."
Free Medicine
Direct will charge consumers $199 for "information" only,
information that your pharmacist, physician and Better Business
Bureau will provide to you for free, Foster said. The key is
knowing where to look.
Consumers can go
to the website www.needymeds.com, click on the medication
needed, print the form, take it to their doctor and have it
signed. After the consumer completes the requested information,
the form is mailed to the manufacturer. |
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According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC),
America’s consumer protection agency, some marketers are using spam
email and the Web to offer information on free or low-cost prescription
drug programs for a fee, sometimes as much as $195. Federal officials
encourage you to steer clear of any company that charges for information
on free or low-cost prescription drug programs.
While it’s true that many prescription drug
companies offer free or low-cost drugs for people who don’t have
prescription drug coverage, can’t afford to pay for medication out of
pocket, or have exhausted their insurance’s annual allowance, the
programs have strict qualification standards. Factors that affect
whether you qualify may include your income and the cost of the drugs
you need.
If you’re trying to get free or low-cost
prescription drugs, you don’t have to pay for information on how to do
it. You just have to know where to look. The information is free — and
publicly available — from your physician, pharmacists, and the
government.
A drug company trade group sponsors a “one stop”
website at
www.helpingpatients.org. The site provides information on patient
assistance programs for consumers who don’t have prescription drug
coverage. Industry and government patient assistance programs offer an
estimated 1,000 medicines to treat a variety of diseases and conditions,
including cancer, high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure,
stroke, depression, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s.
You can apply for free or low-cost prescription
programs or medicines on the website, or you can ask your health care
provider to do it for you. A computer program determines whether there
might be a match for you among the various programs. Health care
providers must approve most applications for these assistance programs.
SeniorJournal.com also provides at page of
information with links to sources of free information about obtaining
prescription drugs at
www.SeniorJournal.com/DrugDiscounts.htm.
Additionally,
www.accesstobenefits.org is a website with information on many
programs to help seniors and people with disabilities reduce their
prescription drug costs. The site is sponsored by a coalition of
organizations serving Medicare beneficiaries. These programs offer the
most help if you don’t have other prescription drug coverage and if your
income is limited.
Finally, you can access the federal government’s Medicare information at
www.medicare.gov or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE.
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent
fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace
and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them.
To file a
complaint or to get
free information on consumer issues, visit
www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY:
1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft,
and other fraud-related complaints into
Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds
of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
More information on Senior Citizen Scams at
Senior Alerts - Click Here
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