Searle's philosophy is that no patient should go without a potentially life-saving therapy because of an inability to pay. For nearly 10 years, Patients in Need has provided certain Searle medications free to patients who fall below the poverty line and who do not have any form of third-party healthcare insurance coverage. Searle has also pledged to include in the program all new drugs that treat life-threatening diseases as the company introduces them in the U.S. market. To date, more than 15 million months of therapy have been distributed free of charge. Certificates for free prescriptions of eligible Searle products are made available to all doctors and clinics in the U.S. who wish to participate in the program.
Patient qualification is left to each physician's discretion.
Patients who are considered eligible are given a certificate along with their prescription that can be used as payment at any pharmacy. For example, one survey showed that 60 percent of prescription users say they don't remember key instructions that their physicians relay about their medications. In addition, nearly half of patients who get their prescriptions filled do not comply with dosing instructions. Unfortunately, these trends can drastically impact the effectiveness of drug therapy. Now in its seventh year, the program supplies participating physicians with information sheets that they can distribute to help assist patient understanding and recall of verbal instructions.