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[woman behind counter] You need 3 medications, correct?
[narrator] Charlena Roberts gets her prescriptions filled
for free at the Charitable Pharmacy of Central Ohio,
a United Methodist ministry serving the uninsured.
[Charlena Roberts] The people are friendly.
It's a one on one.
They will explain to you about your medication, how to take it.
[Allan Zaenger] If you take it earlier in the day that will be
better than taking it at night.
[Charlena Roberts] I'll do it.
[narrator] Roberts is unemployed and says without the help
she would face tough choices.
[Charlena Roberts] That would be very difficult because it would
be like, 'go without' and that's not good most medicines
that I have to take, I have to take daily.
[narrator] Statistics show that within 5 years, 40 percent more
Columbus residents lacked access to needed drugs.
Pharmacist Allan Zaenger predicts the pharmacy will fill
more than 10 thousand prescriptions a year.
[Allan Zaenger] We provide certain prescriptions and
selected over the counter medicines to patients who
really don't have the ability to pay for the $4 generic drugs
at the retail pharmacies.
[narrator] Christopher Curtis severely injured his back and
was referred to the pharmacy by a social service agency.
This is his first visit.
[Christopher Curtis] I'm on 4 different medicines, uh,
nerve medicine, high blood pressure medicine, uh,
medicine for my inflammation.
And I ain't really got the money to pay for it so I came
to the church to ask the church to help me out.
[Allan Zaenger] It's important for people, particularly our
patients who have chronic conditions like diabetes and
asthma, and high blood pressure, cholesterol problems...
that they get on medicines and stay on those medicines.
So that they, so that they don't have some
of the debilitating complications of that.
[narrator] The outreach runs on donations.
It's been called "the pharmacy of last resort"
but others prefer to call it "good medicine."
[Charlena Roberts] It's been great. I'm grateful.
[Christopher Curtis] Oh man, yes, it's a blessing.
It's a blessing for real.