Originally published January of 2022

NDAD prescription assist is huge for Fargo man would definitely recommend NDAD, yep,” Brian Dankert said, without hesitation.

A 49-year-old Fargoan, formerly of Hawley, Minn., Brian became an NDAD client only last spring and has had no regrets - except, perhaps, that he didn’t know about NDAD’s prescription medications program sooner.

“I was just very, very grateful,” the quick-service restaurant manager said. “Without the help of them, I wouldn’t have been able to afford my much-needed medications.”

Brian needs multiple medications, including insulin, the diabetes drug that has experienced soaring costs.

Traumatic diagnosis
Brian discovered he had diabetes in traumatic fashion: a five-day hospital stay, preceded by a collapse at a Hawley softball tournament and air ambulance flight to Fargo.

Without medical insurance, Dankert said, he went without needed insulin until 2016. Since then, he’s dealt with several physical challenges directly or indirectly connected to diabetes, including neuropathy, degenerative disc disease and cholesterol imbalance.

Complications several years ago from a foot ulcer and treatment for it nearly resulted in amputation, he said. And even after getting on Medicare, Brian’s prescription costs continued to soar, at times as high as $2,000 a month.

In early 2021, a Sanford doctor mentioned NDAD as a possible route for help paying for medications.

‘We can help you’
Dankert called NDAD’s Fargo office, then met with NDAD’s client services representative, Kim Zeeb.

“She took down some notes and said she would get back with me. About a week later, she called and said, ‘We can help you.’”

His reaction? “Dropped down on my knees,” said Dankert, a 6’6” all-conference baseball and football player in high school days. “I didn’t know how it was going to go because I had tried so many other options,” he recalled. “I was ready for the worst.”

Far from it, Brian said. NDAD has helped improve his outlook.