NitroMed has established NitroMed Cares™, for those patients who are concerned about whether or not they can afford treatment with BiDil. NitroMed Cares offers assistance for both patients who are uninsured and for patients who are insured but who need assistance with their co-pay for BiDil (subject to eligibility).
For patients who need assistance with their co-pay
The NitroMed Cares BiDil Access Card Program is designed to cover all of the co-pay for eligible insured patients for each prescription of BiDil including refills. Patients will be re-qualified every 6 months and if still eligible, will be re-enrolled in the program.
Click here to request your cards now!
 Please note that patients receiving outpatient prescription drugs through Medicare Part D, Medicaid or other state or federal supported prescription drug programs or other similar programs are ineligible for participation in NitroMed Cares. In Massachusetts, insured patients are not eligible for co-pay assistance.
For patients who are uninsured
The NitroMed Cares Uninsured Patient Program is designed to help uninsured patients, regardless of income, gain free access to BiDil for as long as they are enrolled in the program. Eligible patients can receive up to a 90-day free supply of BiDil every three months, sent either to their physician's office or sent directly to their home. Eligible patients are those who do not have prescription drug insurance coverage and are under the care of a U.S. physician who has prescribed BiDil as medically appropriate.
There are two ways that patients can access this program:
- For insured patients, a BiDil Access Card can be obtained from their physician's office. This card also serves as a means to get uninsured patients into the patient assistant program. The patients follow the simple instructions on the card and they can be enrolled in this program over the telephone without the need to complete paperwork. If a physician's office does not have any BiDil Access Cards, cards can be ordered by calling 1-800-956-0695. Until the cards arrive, we can also assist in enrolling patients immediately in the program by calling 1-800-956-0695.
- Another way to enroll patients in the uninsured program is to download and print the Patient Assistance Program application. This application must be completed by the physician and patient and then faxed to 732-507-7644.
Important information about BiDil®
(isosorbide dinitrate/hydralazine hydrochloride):
INDICATIONS AND USAGE
BiDil is indicated for the treatment of heart failure as an adjunct to standard therapy in self-identified black patients to improve survival, to prolong time to hospitalization for heart failure, and to improve patient reported functional status. There is little experience in patients with NYHA class IV heart failure. Most patients in the clinical trial supporting effectiveness (A-HeFT) received a loop diuretic, an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin II receptor blocker, and a beta blocker, and many also received a cardiac glycoside or an aldosterone antagonist.
CONTRAINDICATIONS
BiDil is contraindicated in patients who are allergic to organic nitrates.
WARNINGS
Augmentation of the vasodilatory effects of isosorbide dinitrate by phosphodiesterase inhibitors such as sildenafil, vardenafil, or tadalafil could result in severe hypotension. The time course and dose dependence of this interaction have not been studied. Reasonable supportive care should consist of those measures used to treat a nitrate overdose with elevation of the extremities and central volume expansion.
ADVERSE REACTIONS
Adverse events reported in A-HeFT and seen more frequently in the group given BiDil included headache (50% in BiDil patients vs. 21% in placebo patients) and dizziness (32% in BiDil patients vs. 14% in placebo patients).
The full Prescribing Information for BiDil is available here.
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