Prescription to cure wealth?

I knew my persistent sniffles would once again require an antibiotic, so I made a plea: let's not use a cannon if a slingshot will work. I was campaigning for E-mycin or one of the narrow spectrum, older, less expensive drugs instead of the monster Z-Pack that always results in yeast infections, ear infections, etc.

Instead, they called in an Rx for Blahblah. I'm guessing it's still a new drug because it cost $13 freakin' dollars EACH. One hundred thirty dollars for TEN pills!

For some reason, my surgery has not been through the insurance system yet, so I still haven't met my deductible and everything is out-of-pocket. I would have just refused, called the doc back and asked for something else. But Genius Girl waited until Friday night to pick it up, and I'm supposed to start chemo on Monday, so I bit the bullet and got the $130 Rx. I wonder about poor people and/or the uninsured who might need Blahblah: do they just die? Is it a sort of financial Darwinism?

Well, the good thing about really expensive lessons is that I tend to remember them.