NOT TAKING YOUR MEDICINE—38%.

NOT TAKING YOUR MEDICINE—38%. When Mary Jane was facing a difficult prognosis for breast cancer sixteen years ago, our friend Joe Foley consoled me by pointing out that survival rates are lowered because many patients don’t follow through on their treatment. According to the Avery Johnson article, the UnitedHealth records show that “38% weren’t filling prescriptions for their aromatase inhibitors, drugs that stop the estrogen production that can feed certain cancers.” There is a great deal of attention paid to the fact that having free or subsidized medical care can lead to excessive use of medical tests and procedures. It is less often noted that medical tests and procedures are not like ice cream or candy. They are, at best, time consuming and irksome. Often they are frightening and painful. There is undertesting and undertreatment as well as overtesting and overtreatment.