I love my country and I am proud to be an American, but at the same time I feel as though my country has let me down. I was born with a disease that requires regular use of certain medications in order to breathe - without them I will die. The medications I need to live cost me around $500 a month. In order to breathe, I have to pay $500 a month and that seems a little unfair, but hey, that is the hand I have been dealt and there are people that pay way more than that and that isn’t fair for them either.

Truth be told; I can order the exact same medications from India for less than $50 a month with shipping. Why is that? They are the exact same ingredients, made by the same manufacturers, yet here stateside the price increases ten-fold. Some of you may be thinking… “Dude, get insurance, that is what it is for”. Yes, that is true, but it's not completely true. I do have insurance, and it pretty much comes out as a wash. My monthly insurance payment makes up the difference that co-pays save me, still costing me around $500 a month out of pocket.

It is a shake down; “Big Pharma” knows that there is millions upon millions of people just like me who suck at breathing and rely on these medications simply to stay alive. They know they are going to get our money, and they can charge whatever they want. Why would we continue to allow drug companies to continue to regulate their own prices? Hmm… I wonder if somewhere along the line, “Big Pharma” and their 1,400 lobbyists made a substantial donation to a campaign or two… I can only imagine what they ask for in return?

It sucks that people like myself have to deal with the shitty hands we have been dealt. It isn’t like I opted into this card game; I can’t walk away, or fold with the hope of a better hand in the next round. I only get one shot; I am all in. I didn’t ask to suck at breathing, and to rely on medication to live a somewhat normal life. I didn’t sign up for that, so why do I have pay so much for it?