Shanghai was diagnosed with ALS, can you buy medicine in Taizhou

The Municipal Medical Insurance Bureau has coordinated the temporary procurement of the Municipal People's Medical Examination

This newspaper (reporter Chen Ling) "I have to go to Shanghai every month to buy medicine, and it's too much to go back and forth, can't I buy medicine in Taizhou?" Recently, Mr. Yuan, a family member of a patient with ALS in the urban area, reported to the city's 12345 government service convenience hotline that his family has been relying on imported drugs to control his condition after his illness, but this medicine needs to be purchased in Shanghai, and it is very inconvenient to go back and forth, and he is eager to know whether he can buy the medicine he needs in Taizhou.

Mr. Yuan told reporters that after his father-in-law was diagnosed with ALS in Shanghai Hospital last year, he began to take the imported drug "Lirutai" riluzole tablets. For this reason, he or his wife have to take two days off every month to go to Shanghai to spend 500 yuan to prescribe medicine for an expert number, which is not only troublesome and expensive to travel back and forth.

It is reported that ALS is an irreversible and fatal motor neuron disease, the main symptoms of which are progressively worsening muscle weakness and atrophy of the limbs and trunk muscles, and the patient gradually loses motor function, as if being "frozen". At present, there are only two drugs approved for the treatment of ALS in China: riluzole and edaravone. The riluzole tablets that Mr. Yuan needs are imported brand "Lirutai" riluzole tablets, with 28 tablets per box, which can generally be taken by patients for 0 days, which means that Mr. Yuan has to go to Shanghai once a month.

It is reported that at present, "Lirutai" riluzole tablets have been included in the medical insurance, but when the reporter asked a number of physical pharmacies in the city about this drug, they were told that it was out of stock. Subsequently, the reporter searched through Jingdong Pharmacy and found that liluzole tablets were on sale on the platform and marked as imported drugs. The reporter contacted Cai Junling, the regional head of Jingdong Pharmacy in Jiangsu Province, and learned that the drug can be purchased with a doctor's prescription in Taizhou Jingdong Pharmacy store.

Cai Junling said that at present, the drug resources for rare diseases, including ALS, are mainly concentrated in first-tier cities, and patients often face the dilemma of having no drugs available when they return to their original places after diagnosis and treatment. In order to alleviate the pain points of medication for rare disease patients, as early as 2021, JD Health established a rare disease care center, and almost all of the oral treatment drugs for rare diseases that have been marketed in China can be bought in JD Pharmacy. Patients only need to log in to the JD APP, and they can purchase directly online or choose the nearest JD Pharmacy in our city to buy in store. "If there are no varieties, you can enter 'Rare Disease Care Center' on the APP, fill in the rare disease drug wish list on the jump page, and the relevant personnel will help find drugs to meet the drug needs of patients."

After learning this news, Mr. Yuan was happy, but also had a new question: can I enjoy the medical insurance reimbursement policy when I buy it in a pharmacy? To this end, the reporter consulted the Medical Service Department of the Municipal Medical Insurance Bureau. A staff member of the department said that the "Lirutai" riluzole tablets required by Mr. Yuan's father-in-law belong to the class B drugs in the medical insurance catalog, not "dual-channel" drugs, and they will coordinate with the Taizhou People's Hospital to temporarily purchase this drug to solve the problem of Mr. Yuan's father-in-law's medication, and enjoy the reimbursement policy of class B drugs.

The staff further explained that the so-called "dual channel", that is, the insured can purchase "dual channel" national negotiated drugs in "dual channel" designated medical institutions and "dual channel" designated retail pharmacies, and the two ways can enjoy the same reimbursement treatment of the medical insurance policy. At present, our province has included the varieties and innovative drugs with high clinical value, urgent needs of patients, and low substitution in the national negotiated drugs into the "dual channel" management. When a patient is in the hospital, if there is a lack of "dual-channel" drugs in the hospital, the doctor can issue an electronic prescription for the patient and upload it to the prescription circulation platform. Patients can independently choose the "dual-channel" designated retail pharmacy to purchase drugs with electronic prescriptions, and the drug purchase fees within the scope of the policy will be settled according to the provisions of medical insurance.

At present, the city is actively promoting the upgrading of medical insurance convenience services, and constantly improving the electronic prescription circulation and other related functions, so that patients can use drugs more conveniently.