‘30 - Sunday, April 3, 1994 - North Shore ms AN oO ‘prescrip’ THE VINTAGE YEARS - 1S HARD not to see it as the thin edge of yet ‘another wedge. — The Vancouver Sun’s front- page layout about Pharmacare changes on March:25 was rather like a poke in the. eye with a long, sharp stick.’ The lead said we, the elder- ly, “are furious,” along with our pharmacists, because of _ changes being ‘made to the provincial program. Well, P'd not heard a thing about it where. had I been.:-But my reac- tion to. the news wasn’t anger, “it was foreboding. : os cracks $ under our feet Kins smen Mothers marching on WHETHER: You like to run or walk, you can, help support the Kinsmen Mothers’ March in - Vancouver. On | Saturday, . April. 24, “marchers” from the Kinsmen Club ‘of Vancouver have orga- nized their inaugural annual Kinsmen Fun Run in support of the Kinsmen Mothers’ March. ‘The run starts 8:30 a.m. at the “Trout Lake Recreation Complex, 3350 Victoria Dr., and then travels are widening. — 1 take five prescribed pills every morning of my life, some of them repeated at noon or with dinner or at bedtime. When I need a refill, my * pharmacist informs me about generic substitutes which save considerable money, and gives me quantities that mitigate against frequent renewals. : And ?'m_grateful that our government has a health plan that defends people my age from the real costs of the pre- . scriptions we require. For a long time, now, I’ve . felt uneasy about this drug sup- ply thing, though. The prices for some’ of the stuff we’re told to take are astronomical. How long can it last? When you sign the pharma- cist’s daily record beside the number of your prescription, you get a chance to look at the right hand side where the prices are. It’s incredible the dollars ‘involved. Your eye slides down " the page, $200, $187, some- times only $16 or $20, but most of the drugs dispensed are ' in the high end. So when I read the new . directive from Paul Ramsey, our new health minister, I Lake Park, finish- the through Trout ing up once again at - Recreation Complex. _ It’s not too late to sign up — - you can still register to run by calling Sharyn Carnello at 736- 8841 (fax 738-0015), or you can show up at the Trout Lake Recreation Complex from 7:45 to 8:15 a.m. for late registration. The cost to enter is $12 or $20, for which you will receive a long- sleeved T-shirt. Retirement living as it should be. HOLLYBURN _ HOUSE For information please call 922-7616 2095 Marine Dr, West Vancouver thought, “Whew, they want us to pay the whole of the dis- pensing fee. What does that entail?” Time to pull the plug on ail those pills maybe? Well, cer- tainly time to have a chat with the druggist. So, first thing, I got the Straight message about the dis- pensing fee. It’s not the price of the drug, ’s that five dollars and twen- ty-five cents we’ve been paying for years for the preparation of our prescriptions. As of this change you’ll be paying seven dollars. Well, an increase of $1.75 per prescription isn’t that terri- fying, but it’s one more item in the cost of getting through the day, eh? Some of us will be inclined to say “forget it, what would happen if I quit taking all those pink and yellow and red and white pills every day? Maybe 1 don’t need them anymore.” Not a good idea. Some of the consequences could be worse than another yank on your wallet. Talk to your doctor first. She or he will understand your perturbation, but a wholesale discard could bring disaster. Hang tough till The proceeds. from the Kinsmen Mothers* March go to support the ever-growing needs of British Columbians with physical disabilities, living on fixed or lim- ited incomes. ORTHO-KINETIC SCOOTER AND LIFT | Join the real freedom riders of today. Ortho-Kinetic, makers of the famous Econo | Lift Chair, offer a complete line of three and we see how it goes. The actual basic problem has been undermined by the federai government’s sop to the manufacturers, agreeing to guard their brand-name prod- ucts for another what, 20 years? It certainly can’t be adjusted honorably by asking the senior population to ante up for the slack. And one of the strictures imposed by Minister Ramsey demands that seniors be issued only the generic version of their prescription. If they or their doctors demand name- brand pilis, they will have to pay extra for them. To give you an idea of that difference, my druggist quotes a tablet which costs 20 cents for a hundred of the generic formula, but $26 for one hun- dred of the name-brand ver- sion. The other areas to see increases are physiotherapists, where the price.of your visit will go up 50%. We’ve been paying $5 for each of our allowed 12 visits, but youll have to decide now if your sore iption for the widening cracks back justifies another $2.50 for manipulation. The only good thing about all of this is that it makes us sit up and take notice of just what we've been getting and just how fucky we've been. These strictures, as unpalat- able as they are, force us to . acknowledge the tremendous benefits we’ve enjoyed, and wake us up, perhaps, to making more of an effort with our own responsibilities. Our provincial pharmaceuti- cal specialists are not a very. large group, and their clout _isn’t therefore that daunting to the government. They are, however, committed to our best health, but — and this is increasingly important for us oldsters — we have to help them. _ Are you walking? Are you - volunteering? Are you eating Smart for your Heart? . Keeping up your regimen of _- optimistic self-assessment is a_- big part of your contribution to” roses in your cheeks and grit in your gristle: It could get worse. ‘We have - to prepare to be tough, SENIORS’ HOUSING FORUMS ¢ © Wednesday, April 6th - 1:30 pm Silver Karbour Centre , «Thursday, April 14th - 1:30 pm - Highfands United Church * Thureday, April 7th - 1:00 pm Karen Magnussen RecGentre. © Tuesday, April 28th - 2:00 pm West Vancouver Senlors’ Centra : _.You are invited to attend one of these meetings to share your ideas with planners, developers, ratepayers, politicians and other seniors. 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