Ted Fustrom A 52-year-old English professor from Burra Sinwid, Pennsylvania, has severe nasal polyps and asthma. In 2019, he started taking his Dupixent, an injectable drug that changed his life. This put him off his asthma and sinus medications and allowed him to breathe and smell. In October 2022, I had to re-authorize my prescription for Dupixent, but after calling my insurance company, doctors and pharmacies, I was unable to reach them and was denied coverage. He stopped taking the medicine, and his asthma and dyspnea returned.
This ENT specialist I have been going to for 20 years has performed 3 major surgeries on me. It’s like having covid always low-key — this dry, hacking cough. I told him 12 years ago he had one serious infection, probably sinus related, which eventually turned into bacterial meningitis.
in the meantime [the pandemic], the doctor who first prescribed the drug retired.I had someone who filled me in and successfully updated in one telemedicine call [prescription] one time. But next time, something messed up in the process. I kept calling them and got no response. This is something I never understood and how big of a deal the paperwork was.
when they cut me off [in October 2022], I had no safety net at all and no prescription for asthma. I waited for the medicine to wear off. The cough gradually got worse. I get covid tests twice weekly just to make sure it’s sinus polyps and not omicron. It wasn’t until the second or third week of January that it was approved. Three months.
The meningitis left me with mild PTSD symptoms. This is usually triggered by calling people about their insurance. It took me a while to figure this out. I always thought it was justified resentment, but after a while I realized that something so trivial could be so rude to anyone. I have never felt so angry.
We estimate that we spent at least 24 hours on the phone. And most of it is waiting for someone to answer the phone. At least I know what I’m doing now.I am choosing [a new ENT specialist] I know you did the paperwork for Dupixent. That’s the only criteria I care about.
