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The high cost of a single prescription medication resulted in the death of a 45 year old Michigan mother of two. Living on a limited single parent budget, she was unable to renew a much needed prescription that was just "so expensive" - it cost her life .

The real crisis in medical care in our nation continues to worsen. Patients who are living on- the- edge financially and are without prescription insurance, are cutting out critical medicines for financial reasons. The high cost of prescription medicine is now increasingly cited by health care professionals as a "primary cause" for worsening health statistics in the USA. Patients under doctor's treatment say they neglect to fill prescriptions simply because of the exorbitant cost. Consequently, these individuals are showing up in emergency rooms and doctor's offices again and again. This "repeat traffic' is increasing the heavy burden already being placed on our medical facilities, resulting in longer waits for medical attention and much higher costs for all of us. Some, like the Michigan mother, are literally being forced into an early grave by the high cost of their prescription medicines.

Unfortunately there is yet is no silver bullet for resolving the problem of rising prescription costs. Until further notice, those of us without prescription insurance have few options. But, here are a few tips which may mitigate your pain. Don't expect miracles, but try these suggestions for reducing your prescription costs; together they can save you lotz of money and possibly your life :

1) Get a free drug card - go to any internet search engine and type in "free drug card" or "free prescription card" or "Superrxcard" - print the free drug discount card and use it the next time you get a prescription filled. These work very well for certain medicines, especially generics, but also on brand named drugs as well. Ask your druggist to keep the card on file for your next visit.

2) Ask your doctor or druggist to substitute a generic for the brand name medicine. It is very common for the same drug lab to make both - the only difference is the higher cost for the brand name. By federal law, the generic must contain all the same active ingredients in the same amounts as the brand name - so why pay more for the brand name?

3) Ask your doctor for a higher dosage pill that can be split. This sometimes gives you a discount. Ask him for a 3 month prescription and then order them through a discount mail order pharmacy (see #5 below)

4) Ask your doctor for samples. They often have a basket full that go unused.

5) Use mail order drug services. *A word of caution - stick with well-known distributors that are licensed and regulated by your State. Avoid foreign based websites or websites that solicit your business through e-mails. These sites are usually not regulated and the medicines they sell to you aren't always quality controlled either.

6) Store you medications properly and take them as directed to maximize their effectiveness.

7) Make sure your doctor and druggist understand that the cost of your medications is a concern to you. They may help you find a lower- cost generic or lower-cost alternative medicine. If they know that cost is a factor in your decision whether to take a prescribed medicine, they will be willing to help you.

8) Take all prescribed medicines regardless of the cost, find a way to get them, because the result of failure to take them could cost you more, even your life.