The Mighty Patch

So my daughter sent me on a wild goose chase for Mighty Patches last week – if you have teens, these dermatological skin blemish treatments are like a pair of dry socks for an army sergeant – you can’t even go outside without them – they are survival in the trenches of high school, even college, essential to a teen’s identity, status, productivity, ability to walk the halls with your head up, and manage anxiety.  But after a series of supply constraints akin to the supply problems facing weight loss drugs, these patches were suddenly unavailable online sending Sophie into a full-on crisis and forcing me into action. I initiated a 7pm cold hard search of every pharmacy and big box retailer within a 20-mile radius and finally, after coming up empty at 7 stores, exasperated from a nearly 3-hour search, a small mom and pop pharmacy told me they had 1 case left. “A case!” I said, “how many in a case?” There are “150 boxes,” Joe the pharmacist said. “150!! Huh, well I’ll take 10 boxes, no 20.” I said. “20?” Joe confirmed. “Actually 50 – yeah 50.” “50 it is.” “Right, 50, or let’s just say 100.” “So, 100 - you want 100?” Joe said. “Yeah, exactly, 100 - just give me the whole case and I’ll be on my way.” This may have seemed like an odd decision until Sophie hugged me and then several of Sophie’s friends started calling her yesterday wondering if they could have a box—they too desperately reliant on the Mighty Patch to survive….while we huddle here to decide how to dole out the patches if at all, and assess each teen’s true case, it’s not lost on me that the healthcare system has been aggressively trying to treat dermatological conditions like acne, cancer or psoriasis for a long time — now more often through very expensive drug treatments.  But what’s rarely discussed is the obvious link between a teen’s acne and their anxiety or depression. Fix the former, limit the latter. I once asked a health insurer friend Ron Blume if he would ever pay a dermatologist more if they could reduce both acne and related anxiety. The short answer was “we already do pay them a lot just because we need them, but if that dermatologist could screen for anxiety and depression, and even set up a teen with a mental health consult and impact both conditions, then that’s good value.” And just maybe, if needed, that therapist will need to call me and Sophie for patches, that’s of course if there are any left by next week!