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American Morning
NASCAR Driver Kelly Sutton Beats MS With Help of Prescription Drug
Aired February 13, 2002 - 09:49 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Normally, it is the domain of motor oil and tire companies, so you might not expect to see a race car sponsored by a pharmaceutical company. But then, again NASCAR driver Kelly Sutton isn't your typical auto racer.
CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, caught up with this remarkable woman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): By now, Kelly Sutton was supposed to be in a wheelchair. And she does spend a lot of time in a chair, and it does have wheels, but it goes 150 miles an hour.
KELLY SUTTON, NASCAR DRIVER: I'm really competing with myself and the MS, showing that I can do it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go, go, go, go.
COHEN: Since she was five, Kelly knew she wanted to be a race car driver, just like her father and grandfather. But, then:
SUTTON: I was diagnosed at 16 years old, and at that point, I thought my world had come to an end. I didn't want anybody to know. I didn't want to go on living. I just wanted to crawl in a hole and just die.
COHEN: Her doctors told her that by age 25 or so, her multiple sclerosis would be so bad, she wouldn't be able to walk. And they were right.
SUTTON: In '96, I had a severe attack and was in a wheelchair pretty much all year of '96, and we thought that that was the end.
COHEN: MS is a serious illness, but with the proper therapy, it can be manageable. In her case, a drug called Copaxone allows her to lead a pretty normal life and follow her dream. Now 30, Kelly hasn't had a serious attack in six years. The drug company now sponsors her team.
SUTTON: Oh, man! That was a good run!
COHEN: Last weekend in Daytona, she finished 11th, even though she started way back in the pack, in 34th place.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good girl!
SUTTON: I think so (ph). (UNINTELLIGIBLE) I feel like I'm on top the world right now!
COHEN: Kelly knows it might not always be this good. Her disease could strike again at any time, because MS drugs, no matter how effective, only slow the progression. They don't provide a cure. But, for now, she feels like a winner.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Well, she should feel like a winner. She is a winner!
COHEN: She's amazing.
ZAHN: What a great story!
COHEN: Isn't she amazing?
ZAHN: Now, did she have to try a bunch of different drugs before she found this one that actually worked for her?
COHEN: Well, this was (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
ZAHN: Or was she lucky?
COHEN: She was lucky. There are three drugs that people take, and she tried one that didn't work quite as well for her. And then she tried the second one. But there are three drugs that came out in the 1990s for people with MS. Before that, there was really nothing. But what's interesting about these drugs is that of all the thousands of people or hundreds of thousands who could be helped by it, only one out of four people takes one of these three drugs like Kelly does.
And there are various reasons for that. But one of the reasons is that insurance companies often give people a hard time about paying for it. And what's interesting about her story is that here you see someone who's been helped so much. But there are people out there who want to be helped like that, but they can't because these drug are $10,000 a year.
ZAHN: So, that's it. It's the obvious cost issue here.
COHEN: Right, huge.
ZAHN: So, what you're saying then, is there are hundreds of MS patients out there that could be living much fuller lives if they could get someone to pay for these drugs. What is the...
COHEN: Exactly.
ZAHN: What are the chances that any of these insurance companies are going to change their policies to adapt to this? COHEN: Well, some of them have. Some of them some have come around. And it used to actually be much worse. Insurance companies used to be worse about paying for these drugs, and it's gotten better. But still people find themselves denied coverage, or what happens, is the drug company will say, "Oh, yes, we'll pay for your MS drugs, but we'll give you a cap of $2,000 a year, which isn't very helpful, since it's $10,000 to take these.
So, we want to give you some tips about when shopping for insurance, because this happens to so many people. First of all, know your needs. For example, if you're an MS patient who needs to take Copaxone, you need to make sure that they cover it and to what extent they cover it.
The second thing you need to see is to ask about preexisting conditions. You don't want them telling you six months later, "Oh, well, you came to us with cancer, so we're not going cover it. And the third thing is, ask for a list of excluded drugs. Some insurance companies will say, "Oh, yes, we pay for prescription drugs. We have that benefit." But as for the fine print, often they won't pay for a, b, c, d and e. And if that's your drug, then that's not going to help you.
Then we also wanted to give you advice. What if you get an insurance plan and then they deny you coverage and you're stuck with them because you've already signed with them? Well, the first thing that you should do is appeal to the highest level. In other words, that's a fancy way of saying, "be a pain in the neck." Ask to speak to the person's supervisor, ask to speak to their supervisor. You also want to call disease groups like the -- MS has the National MS Society. And they can help you.
Also call state insurance commissions. They have people who do nothing by try to run interference between patients and insurance companies.
ZAHN: So it takes a lot time and effort...
COHEN: Oh, yeah.
ZAHN: ...but you've certainly seen cases of people actually, ultimately getting the drugs they need.
COHEN: Oh, absolutely.
ZAHN: And having it covered by insurance.
COHEN: Absolutely, but it does often take work.
ZAHN: Some very good advice. Boy, what a symbol Kelly Sutton is.
COHEN: Absolutely. An amazing woman.
ZAHN: When's her next race? She has a new one -- she has another one coming up? COHEN: In a couple of weeks, she's got another one coming up.
ZAHN: Go, Kelly, go! Thanks, Elizabeth. Nice to see you in town for a change.
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