One Ohio family continues to push for laws to avoid preventable deaths for others in the state, after losing their son seven years ago. Now the Ohio Legislature is hearing an amended bill to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else's loved one.
Kevin Houdeshell was diagnosed with Type-1 Diabetes when he was 26 years old. His father says he managed the disease well for 10 years when one day he received a call from his other children that Kevin died.
He was found at his home unresponsive on the floor. They later found out that Kevin tried getting more insulin before a holiday weekend from his pharmacy, but his prescription ran out and he was unable to get a new script from his doctor's office during the three-day weekend.
In 2015, Kevin's Law, or the emergency prescription refill law, passed allowing one dosage every 12 months for anyone who needs essential lifesaving drugs to treat chronic conditions to be filled by a pharmacist if a doctor can't be immediately reached.
HB 37 is an amended law asking for prescriptions to be filled up to three times in a 12-month period, and it would mandate insurance companies to cover the cost.
"It's not just with insulin, you have COPD puffers, you have heart medications, there’s all kinds of things out there and I’ve gotten stories over the last six years of ‘hey, this has happened to me and I’ve ended up in the ER,’” said Dan Houdeshell. “Insurance coverage is also an issue. The pharmacist wants to get paid, the insurance company is not going to pay for it and the person isn't going to pay out of pocket because prices are so outrageous.”
Houdeshell urges people with similar stories to come forward and submit testimony to him or contact their legislators by Monday, March 1.
HB 37 is now on the agenda to have its second reading on Tuesday in the House Health Committee.
