Ethical/Moral Dilemma

For a senior, I probably take less medications than some, but it still can be expensive. My medication to control my blood pressure is about $28.00 every 45 days - certainly not very much. More recently however, it has been suggested that I start to take some medication to reduce the side effects of my CODP. That medication is more expensive.

The medication originally prescribed, needs to be take four times a day and cost $48.00 for thirty days. It is also rather inconvenient to use. I have to get up early in the morning (5:00AM) to take the first dose as well as having to remember to take the enhaller with me if I am going to be out of the house around 11:00 AM. There is however, another choice. I could take a similar medication but only once per day. That medication cost approximately twice as much ($102.00 for 30 days).

The moral dilemma occurs when I think about whether or not to access my province’s Pharmacare program for seniors. For me, at my income level, the plan will cover all drug costs above $550.00 per year. That means that if my only two prescription costs are for blood pressure and the cheaper, more inconvenient COPD medication - I will not receive any financial assistance. If, however I switch to the more expensive and far more convenient medication, the additional cost for the medication will be covered by the Pharma Care plan.

The Question is- do I utilize the government’s funds to pay for my convenience? It could be argued that I paid taxes all of my life and there it is my right to take money from the government. It could be argued that the drug plan is there to assist seniors and that it is my right to use it if needed. It could even be argued that everyone else does it so why shouldn’t I? If I raised the issue amongst some of my friends and suggested that I might be needlessly spending government money (and that there was not a bottomless pot of it) those friends would argue that there was a shortage of money because the rich were not paying their fair share and therefore I should not feel guilty for their greed.

But I do feel guilty. I think I know that it is wrong to use the system just for my convenience. It does not matter how much I have or have not paid in taxes, the people who are supporting my medication use are the people younger than me, people who are burdened with ever increasing costs but not increasing pay cheques. I know that the government’s money pot is not bottomless and regardless of who could/should pay more, I should not take out more than I need. And for me that is the crux of the matter.

It is not how much I deserve to have, it is how much do I need to have. At the core of my “philosophy of life” is the basic belief (which is a weird combination of socialism and macrobiotics) that we should never take more than we need. I have always explained it by saying - if there are 10,000 apples in the world and 10,000 people than everyone gets one apple each. If someone takes more than one apple, the balance gets upset. It does matter if my apple tree has produced more apples - to be fair and just - I only get one.

I need to take some medication - I do not need to take the one that is more expensive just because it will make my life a little bit less inconvenient. I do need to do all that I can not to upset the balance of life by taking more than I need.