Don’t Let Your New Year’s Resolution Crash and Burn over Insane Drug Prices

’Tis the season again — no, not for Christmas, but for agonizing over New Year’s resolutions.  And if you’ve got a health-related one, you can bet it’s going to hit your wallet hard.

I’m a physical therapist in Stephens City with two decades’ experience.  That means twenty Decembers of people coming to me and saying, “I’m going to prioritize my health this coming year.”  It’s understandable: the diagnosed diabetes and obesity numbers for Virginia adults come in around 11.8 and 34.3 percent, respectively.  But then, with dawning discouragement: “But I also need to get my finances under control.”  Of course, fixing health means buying drugs, they think…and drugs are expensive.

Unlike death and taxes, the high cost of drugs isn’t a tragic given in life.  The unavoidable truth is that if drug prices are high, it’s because drug companies set them high.  Here in Virginia, lawmakers talked earlier this year about a Prescription Drug Affordability Board to respond to the outrageous costs of many medications — and pharma giants fought it tooth and nail.  Outgoing Governor Youngkin ended up vetoing the PDAB proposal because he thought the board would “prioritize costs over medical necessity” and “compromise patient welfare in the commonwealth.”

The governor is right to be concerned about medical necessity.  There are times when medication is appropriate, even life-saving.  There’s a reason I encourage patients to talk to their doctors about these important decisions.  But for many people I work with, the biggest wins come when we stop treating the body as if we’re always just staving off sickness and instead relearn the basics of positive, forward-thinking wellness.  The result is fewer flare-ups, fewer doctor visits, fewer “we’ll just add one more medication” moments — and all the side effects that come with those, which can restart symptoms or bring out new and worse ones.

That’s when the financial weight starts lightening up.

Look at GLP-1 injections, such as semaglutide and tirzepatide. They are commonly used in Northern Virginia for weight loss and blood sugar control by reducing appetite and slowing digestion. They can help jumpstart weight loss and improve metabolic markers when properly prescribed, but costs are significant. Local clinic prices range from $300–$600 per month, and brand-name medications can run $900–$1,300 or more without insurance. Common drawbacks include gastrointestinal side effects, long-term financial commitment, and frequent weight regain once the medication is stopped. The biggest concern is dependency, relying on injections without changing nutrition, movement, sleep, and daily habits.

Here are three real-life examples I’ve seen in a quarter-century of working with patients from Strasburg to Inwood to achieve better health, without drugs.  Of course they won’t match your situation perfectly, but they’re food for thought for anyone looking to take control of his well-being without sacrificing his life savings to Big Pharma’s pill bottles.

First is a middle-aged, active adult male.  He has recurring back pain, poor sleep, creeping weight gain, and rising blood pressure.  There are all kinds of BP meds out there crying for his money.  Instead, I built him a six-week plan that included manual therapy, deep tissue red light therapy to the spine, spinal mechanics with a walking progression, and a few simple nutrition changes.  His pain dropped, his activity went up, and the conversation shifted from “What med do I take next?” to “How do I keep this going?”

Second, we have the “knee pain-weight-inflammation spiral.”  I had a client who avoided movement altogether because her knee was torturing her.  She was relying on injections and meds just to get out of bed in the morning.  She couldn’t bear even to look at the scale anymore, because she knew what she’d see if she dared to stand on it.  But she didn’t need more drugs or shots — she needed some basic changes to her body mechanics.  I incorporated natural modalities like sub-zero cryotherapy, leg strength work, and improvements to hip mobility.  Once my client could see how to move her body better, the inflammation spiral started winding down.

Third is the “pre-diabetes wake-up call.”  A client came to me with some alarming metabolic red flags: X, Y, and Z.  We could have panicked and rushed for the insulin, but instead, we focused on things he could control: strength training, protein targets, walking…and doing all this consistently, with focus and perseverance.  This one was a dramatic win — not just for my client’s health, but also for his peace of mind.  He wasn’t going to turn his life over to a wallet-draining drug regimen.  He could manage things himself.

Am I saying you need to trade your 24-karat prescription for cryotherapy or a hoity-toity physical therapist?  Not at all — and I guarantee your local PT isn’t vacationing like a pharma executive.  My point is that health and money don’t have to be a zero-sum game.  A weekly hike in the brisk air of the Blue Ridge Mountains might do you better than a drug regimen, and with gas prices as low as they are, you can get a gallon now for a way better deal than any prescription on the market.

In 2026, as in 2025, we’ll be living with a system that profits more when we stay dependent.  Maybe our lawmakers can change that, and maybe not.  But we don’t have to let that system hijack our personal goals this year.  Make 2026 the year you brush off the pharma ads and invest in the strategy that pays you back twice: better health and lower long-term cost.

Eric Sampsell holds a master’s degree in physical therapy and is the owner of Sampsell Physical Therapy and Functional Wellness in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Eric Sampsell
Stephens City, VA

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