Note: “An Arm and a Leg” uses speech-recognition software to generate transcripts, which may contain errors. Please use the transcript as a tool but check the corresponding audio before quoting the podcast.
Dan: Hey there–
Dr. Anmol Gupta is a resident physician at the University of Michigan. One day a week, he drives thirty miles north of Ann Arbor to a rural clinic and for a lot of his patients there, it’s the only doctor they can get to within an hour.
Dr. Gupta: They have to travel the furthest. They’re often the ones that are uninsured or on Medicaid. They often are coming and seeking care later than you’d wish they had access to care.
Dan: So they’re sicker. And the cost of prescription drugs comes up in like every single visit.
Dr. Gupta: I’m meeting patients who are just now being able to afford medications who maybe weren’t able to five, 10 years ago who needed it then.
Dan: Take statins, the cholesterol-lowering drugs. One of the most popular brand-name versions, Crestor, finally went generic in 2016. Before that, a lot of patients like Dr. Gupta’s simply couldn’t afford it.. So now he wants generic versions for today’s expensive drugs to reach his patients as soon as possible.
Dr. Gupta: We’re trying to prevent long term risks here. The faster we can start these medications, the better the outcomes in hopefully preventing devastating things like heart attacks and strokes.
Dan: Which is why what’s ab …