Sad Story-Lack of Money for Medications Ends in Spouse’s Death

A very sad story hit the news last week.  A Florida man killed his chronically ill wife because they couldn’t afford her prescriptions. Florida Man Says He Killed Sick Wife Because He Couldn’t Afford Her Medicine, Sheriff Says explains that the husband in the over 50 year marriage told the law enforcement officer who responded to the call that “[t]he cost of her medications had become so burdensome that they could no longer afford it … [s]o on Monday morning while she was sleeping, he shot her in the head….” According to the article the husband has been charged with premeditated first degree murder.    A representative of the Sherriff’s office was quoted as saying that the husband “was perfectly clear on that he was going to be arrested and go to jail, but again, he felt that this is where it had gotten to him and this was his course of action…  showed emotion and he was very clear that he was out of options in his mind.” At the time of the story, according to the article, there was no information about their health insurance status.

This story notes the issues with elders on fixed incomes and the costs of medications. There have been stories in the press of late about price spikes in certain medications and the Senate Committee on Aging has held two hearings this year on the topic, available here and here.