An Atlanta filmmaker says she needs a $1,000-a-month prescription to digest food after COVID, then her CVS coupon stopped working

Amanda Kasmira Brown (amandakazzycryer) says she fell very sick during COVID and recently took to Instagram to share how the repercussions of that illness are now impacting her financially. The post, which got tens of thousands of views, kicked off a conversation about the affordability of medication, especially medication that people depend on. The award-winning Atlanta filmmaker was at CVS to pick up her prescription of Zenpep when she said she ran into a problem.

In her video, Brown told her viewers that after a near-fatal case of COVID in 2023, she developed non-alcoholic pancreatitis. As a result, she said that she can’t digest food or break down the fats in it without Zenpep, which is a pancreatic enzyme. However, she claimed that the medicine is “almost $1,000 a month.” She shared that her CVS pharmacist had been applying a coupon to help her, until the day of her post, when the coupon allegedly didn’t work.

Brown said she now had to figure out a new coupon because “I don’t know who can afford $1,000 a month for a non-controlled prescription.” She told her viewers that it “seems crazy” that insurance companies could allow that kind of co-pay pricing for “life-saving” medication. She noted, “I didn’t ask to take this medication. I didn’t ask to take it. My gastroenterologist told me I have to for the rest of my life.”

Instagram responded with sympathy and advice

In her post, Brown asked, “Has this ever happened to you?” In response, her viewers flooded the comments with advice. One user told Brown to “Call the manufacturer and ask if they have a drug assistance program,” noting that a lot of patients can get onto such programs through drug companies. Another user shared that her best friend, who takes Zenpep for the same reason, gets the medicine free after the doctor’s office called the manufacturer.

Considering the rising rates of insurance premiums, which may be passed on through higher copays, many users expressed their disappointment in the healthcare system. One person claimed, “The healthcare system is failing us all when we need it the most!” Another wrote, “Greed has ruined healthcare in the US,” while a third argued that “Insurance companies need to cover what Drs prescribe. Period.”

Some users even debated who is responsible for these prices, with one person pointing to pharmaceutical companies and stating, “They are the ones that sets the price!” Another user suggested a more immediate fix, recommending that Brown try GoodRx.

In her caption, Brown told anyone struggling with a similar problem, “Since nobody else will, I’m apologizing on behalf of ALL the health insurance companies in the USA. You are not alone in this.”

Attack of the Fanboy was unable to independently verify CVS’s or Brown’s insurance company’s side of the story, as this account originates solely from Brown’s Instagram post.