Sharon Clark is able to get her life-sustaining cancer drug, Pomalyst—priced at more than $18,000 for a 28-day supply—only because of the generosity of patient assistance foundations.
Clark, 57, a former insurance agent who lives in Bixby, Okla., had to stop working in 2015 and go on Social Security disability and Medicare after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer. Without the foundation grants, mostly financed by the drugmakers, she couldn’t afford the nearly $1,000 a month it would cost her for the drug, since her Medicare Part D drug plan requires her to pay 5% of the list price.
