Two news items in BC have been particularly troublesome. One patient with a rare autoimmune disease. The only treatment currently available cost an astounding 750,000 per year. This drug not covered in BC but is covered in Ontario.
I have issues with two things. First if it is available in some provinces and not others. This should be a federal issue not provincial and second why are governments not regulating pharmaceutical companies? Why are they allowed such outlandish leverage? Second issue is Drug Overdoses and how we are responding. The province has just purchased two massspectrometers for drug addicts to test drug before injecting.
What is wrong with this picture?
If you choose the behaviour you choose the consequence. They know these drugs will kill yet ignore the risks. But someone who is ill 😷 we do not help. wTH .
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Damaged
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The people at the top of the chain are only interested in developing subscription drugs that people will have to take for a lifetime.
The most profitable business model on earth is selling someone a product that they have to take every day for the rest of their lives.
There aren't 5 drugs on earth that have been manufactured that actually cure any disease.
Why is that?
In the last 100 years we've put men on the moon, built cars that can drive themselves and we each carry a super computer around in our pockets. But the Pharmaceutical industry has failed to develop a single drug that can cure any disease. This is a shocking set of results.
It's even more worrying that most corporate charities support Pharmaceutical research instead of trying to find cures into the diseases they claim to want to cure. Go and look at the annual allocated budget for Cancer Research UK. They are in bed with the Pharmaceutical industry too. It's scary what they spend their money on...
I think things will have to get worse before they get better.
In any industry when you know the cause of a problem, you can reverse engineer a solution.
This doesn't happen in the Pharmaceutical Industry... Instead...
When they find the cause of a problem, they develop a solution that will keep a lid on things, but the solution they develop often causes problems in other areas or even bigger problems later on down the line.
It makes me mad because nobody seems to take this stuff seriously and most people won't wake up and smell the coffee.
People marvel at how far Healthcare has come, but in my opinion it has barely moved on since the 1950s and this is not good enough.
But in the last 100 years the Pharmaceutical company have failed to develop a single drug that can cure a Disease.
Biologics that turn off processes in the body don't impress me. They may be effective at reducing symptoms but they are the equivalent of a touch tone phone. We should be using iPhones now.
It's frustrating. Money is no object for Pharmaceutical companies. They spend billions researching and developing new drugs every year. If they wanted to find a cure, they could.
I find it a bit sad that you equate the complexity of a space rocket or a super computer to that of a human being....engineering and mechanics are way simpler. And it is precisely because human beings are so complex that it is hard to solve problems as there are endless knock on effects as everything in a living being is interconnected.
And as for progress, I had many friends who died of aids in the 1980's - these days you can live a near normal lifespan. That's progress to me, as is eradicating some fatal diseases in many parts of the world, working out the human genome, being able to give people anaesthetics without killing them, heart transplants - the list of major advances is very long.
However if you choose to have a capitalist, free market economic system then you will get pharmaceutical companies to match. And then that's what happens to drug development, and marketing of them. Gone are the days of Alexander Fleming and a desire to serve the public freely. Instead it's supply and demand. Paracetomol is used by millions and is cheap , drug X which is only needed by a handful of people is phenomenally expensive.
Canada doesn't have anything to do with Donald Trump & his cronies. Pharma may control prices in the US, but in Canada, Health Canada sets the price for the pharma companies. It's sad that this lady has to suffer as the American Pharma company takes Canada to court for setting it's price. BC is waiting for Canada to win, as it surely will.
Ontario & Alberta's provincial governments are temporarly "sucking" up the USA pharma price on a trial basis. While waiting out the court case so the medical system isn't paying the bill.. Canada always seems to win court cases against the USA when it comes to drug pricing, soft wood lumber & now dairy pricing. It's awful how this BC woman has to suffer because the USA wants to dictate how Canada runs it's government.
Right on, indeed. I did turn to alternative medicine at one point in my life since the traditional meds. were not the total answer. Yes, pharmacies are good, ofcourse, however, one must pursue other avenues of treatment. Are you in the UK? Is there socialized medicine there - I believe so. I found the Arthritis Foundation here in the US had little to offer me, just advertisements for treatments I had taken and knew much about. This is why I sought out this group. I know polotics plays a role as well and people must have their own advocacy groups, much like what happened with the AIDS situation. Best of luck to you.
Well colour me paranoid but I am afraid I could not agree more. This is why I have redirected my daughter to marine biology instead of medicine.
I keep stopping MTX because I fear it will kill my organs and great a dependency. Fortunately, or not it does not work for me so I at least do not ‘need it’. The same is true for opiates. I know without it is not much different than with in fact the rebound headaches make using opiates worse than not. I use an oil vaporizer and that gets me trough. I focus on diet and lifestyle changes and so far so good. I know that when it flares again that may change but for now I am living my best life. Find ways to laugh whenever I can.
Canada does regulate Pharma companies & Canada does regulate the cost of drugs. This is the reason this drug isn't available all over Canada. The US drug company doesn't like the Canadian government setting up drug pricing in Canada. Big Pharma isn't a scary word here because our government controls it. This USA company wants the USA pharma laws to govern & dictate to us living in Canada. Canada will never allow the US to dictate our laws and thus this BC woman suffers.
This is a federal issue, not a provincial one. Canada is in court with the US Parma company. Its sad that this patient has to suffer. Apparently Ontario & Alberta are funding the expensive drug Soliris on a trial basis. This over priced drug does not prevent death to the rare kidney auto immune disease. BC & the other provinces are studying what happens in Ontario & Alberta. There is also a court case going on between Canada & the US drug company over pricing. This USA pharma company does not like Canada's Federal government controling pharma pricing.
I personally know this young woman, she does deserve this drug to see if it works. I have been petitioning the medical services plan as well and the prov govt about this. More people need to stand up for the young lady and her family to try and get it covered either fully or at an extremely reduced rate. No one should have to sell their home and move across the country just to get medicine covered.
Thank you. Reading about Shantee just breaks my heart. She is only 2 years older than my daughter. Link didn't work, but I found her & I am emailing the the health minister too.
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