Patch Blog: Cancer Pills Spark Designer Drug Jewelry Line

In 2004, at 54 years of age, Susan Braig, a self-employed artist and grant-writer, was diagnosed with breast cancer.  She assumed her cancer costs would be covered by her Anthem Blue Cross policy, but discovered none of her specialist exams, MRIs, ultrasounds, lab tests, or bone density scans applied toward her yearly deductible of $1,000 and $2,500 in co-pays. Susan had to pay for all of those out-of-pocket, including $500 prescriptions for anti-nausea pills. While she eventually got on a MediCal program, Susan was ineligible to collect unemployment or disability benefits; so her regular bills became credit card debts. When her MediCal benefits expired in 2006, Susan was in remission, but faced five more years of expensive follow-up cancer monitoring and prescriptions, none of which were covered by her hospitalization-only insurance. 

“Health care in this country has become a luxury item,” she said. In 2007, with piles of medical bills and other debt, Susan came up with the novel idea to convert her pricey leftover pills, which “seemed more like precious gems,” into a collection of conceptual Designer Drug Jewelry to help pay off her debt.

At her studio in Altadena, she uses donated expired gel caps and tablets as gemstones for an eclectic collection of earrings, bracelets, tiaras, necklaces and rings. She even turns unused syringes into Christmas ornaments. Susan explains that her jewelry is wearable because, “All pills are denatured with glue and varnishes, so they are no longer usable as drugs or medical supplies.”

At nonprofit events or craft shows, you will see her wearing a white lab coat at a table filled with necklaces dangling from amber pill vials on rotating jewelry stands. Every piece of jewelry has an interesting story.  You can buy a Viagra pendant necklace, “one of her most popular items,” she says, or other unusual pieces studded with such meds as Zocor, Zoloft, Warfarin, or her un-used cancer-fighting Tamoxifen and Aromasin pills; or if you prefer to purchase over the counter meds, she offers earrings made with stunning sky blue Excedrin PMs or ruby red Dulcolax stool softeners.  Prices range from $15-$150 and are gifted in a pill vial, and bagged with a surgical mask. Her creativity is limitless.

Her funds are not limitless, however, to pay for her healthcare and basic living costs. Braig, now a 62 year old cancer ‘survivor,’ has had to drop her Anthem Blue Cross insurance because the premiums skyrocketed, especially since she’s older and now has a pre-existing condition. Braig has had to ration her healthcare and eliminate certain meds. Knowing her situation, her oncologist no longer charges for her visits. She’s dipped into her IRA and her family and friends have helped out.

As a grant writer, Susan knew how to research, ask questions, negotiate and beg for help; but “when you’re sick,” she says, “people don’t feel up to it, some don’t have Internet access, or there could be a language barrier.” Through Susan’s due diligence, she discovered a program that donated her $3,600/year Aromasin pills from Pfizer.

Braig says, “Patients need to learn so much information when you are sick and should be resting and focused on healthcare.”

Below is a link to Pfizer’s Assistance Programs.

http://www.pfizerhelpfulanswers.com/pages/Find/FindAll.aspx

On October 22nd, Susan will be selling her jewelry from noon to 3:00 at Webster’s Pharmacy (2450 N. Lake Avenue in Altadena), a special trunk sale to benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation For the Cure.

http://www.websterscommunitypharmacy.net/

Susan's story was also featured in the LA Times.