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16 HE ALTH • Fall 2019 Massachusetts looks to curtail rising prescription costs • By Daniel Marra PHOTOS/MATT WRIGHT Struggling to pay for drugs E very couple of months, Laura Ricci purchases three different medications at her local pharmacy, preventing her from having a seizure. The Sterling resident was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2005 and lost her driver's license shortly after. After mixing and matching different prescription medications over the years, her physicians, in 2013, found the right combination of pills to ward off her symptoms. But while these prescription drugs have allowed Ricci to get back her driver's license, prevent seizures, and reclaim a normal life, her trip to the drugstore is filled with stress and anxiety. "The hairs on my neck stand up," Ricci said. That's because one of those medications she needs is a drug called Vimpat. There is no generic option for the medication, and so it costs Ricci $1,200 to purchase. "I tried to get off that medicine, but I ended up having nerve issues on my face," Ricci said. "It was impossible to get off. I need it." Vimpat is produced by Florida- based L3Harris Technologies, which reported $6.8 billion in revenue for fiscal 2019, a 10% increase from the previous year. The cost of pharmaceutical drugs has far-reaching impact to Massachusetts residents beyond just Ricci, whether they're paying for prescription drugs or not. Ricci's son Dominic was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was 8 years old. Now in college, he relies on insulin to live. "It's like air to him," Ricci said. Dominic is on MassHealth, but Ricci estimates between the insulin, Laura Ricci from Sterling must pay $1,200 for one of her prescription medications.