My insurance companies that I have had since first being first diagnosed (BC/BS, then John Deere, now Cigna,) all refuse to pay for any ed pills in any amount , all 3 after reapplication by the doctor, citing medical need. American insurance companies for the most part just will not recognize the need, nor will they pay for it. Sadly, cancer patients are forced to other measures, including illegal ones, to attempt to regain and preserve sexual function. I sometimes wonder if the people who make the decision for the companies, probably the majority of which are men, ever think about
or study the effects of PCa treatment, or if they really don't care, as their only 'god' is the bottom line. In either case, I consider them the worse of the worse, bottom dwelling scum suckers, who willingly throw away men's hopes of a reasonable recovery for the dollars. You would think they, being men, would be the first to realize how critical to well being a man's sexual sense of self is for living a normal and natural life. For those of us whose insurance doesn't pay for it, and who want the best chances of regaining our sex life, patent law, company costs and such, don't begin to balance the scale. If our disease side effects was treated properly by them, there wouldn't even be any need for this discussion.
In this economy, the cost of that $12 to $20 pill is too much for a lot of us to pay, considering the same thing without the label is available for 78 cents right thru UPS. It's a personal choice that I think the majority of men will make, regardless of the loss of patent protection and their profits. If the companies (Viagra and Levetra manufactor, whoever they are) are so worried about
it, they would be forcing enforcement, or reducing the costs of the pills, or even giving them free for documented, certified PCa patients as a public relations gesture. Geez, cabin fever has really set in....I'm gonna go shovel snow or something...Sorry for the rant.