Some Big Pharma drug companies are annoyed, and are threatening to take the British government to court. The problem? They may be denied access to a large pot of NHS money.
The government set up the 'Cancer Drugs Fund in 2010, one of its first acts following their election, to provide extra funding for medicines that were considered 'too expensive', and 'poor value for money' by NICE, and so could not be prescribed within the NHS. £200 million was set aside. This has risen to £280 million. And apparently the fund is already overspent by £30 million this year.
Does that sound generous? Well, apparently not generous enough for the Big Pharma companies. Two drug companies are threatening to take the government to court because their drugs are being 're-assessed'. Their feeding frenzy at the NHS feeding trough is being threatened!
Just how arrogant is this? Public money is being spent on ludicrously expensive drugs, and the drug companies object to a decision that seeks to ensure that taxpayer's money is being spent appropriately! They must assume they have some kind of 'right' to the money being spent on their drugs. And that our government has not responsibility to make decisions that are detrimental to their profitability.
Of course, that is not the way they put it, or how our meek mainstream media is describing it. The government is denying patients access to 'life-saving' drugs (according to the BBC), or, if you prefer the 'Mail Online',
"Thousands of women with advanced breast cancer are set to be denied ‘last chance’ medication that can give them extra months, if not years, with their loved ones".
Although the Media is sufficiently honest to point out the costs of these drugs, up to £90,000 per year per patient, little or nothing was said about the safety of effectiveness of the six drugs, Eribulin, Avastin, Kadcyla, Afinitor, Tyverb and Perjeta. So let's consider just one of these, Avastin, and consider it's history.
Avastin was approved in February 2004 by the FDA, the US drug regulator. Within 5 months, however, it discovered that the new 'wonder drug' could cause stroke, heart attacks, angina, and double the risk of a fatal blood clot. Apparently, even when it was approved, Avastin was known to cause fatal stomach perforations and congestive heart failure. The situation only got worse, though.
So, it would seem that what is being 'denied' to 'thousands of women with advanced breast cancer' is a 'life saving' drug that is exorbitantly expensive, dangerous to our health, and useless too!
Does that sound like a good deal? Well, it is good enough for the drug companies. And apparently it is good enough for our mainstream media, including the BBC, who continue to refuse to tell us the truth about conventional drugs and vaccines.
I suppose we are just expected to believe the passive and unquestioning promotion of pharmaceutical drugs, take it when they are given to us regardless of their affects on our health, and pay exorbitantly for the privilege!
Anyone want to stop jumping to Big Pharma's tune?
The government set up the 'Cancer Drugs Fund in 2010, one of its first acts following their election, to provide extra funding for medicines that were considered 'too expensive', and 'poor value for money' by NICE, and so could not be prescribed within the NHS. £200 million was set aside. This has risen to £280 million. And apparently the fund is already overspent by £30 million this year.
Does that sound generous? Well, apparently not generous enough for the Big Pharma companies. Two drug companies are threatening to take the government to court because their drugs are being 're-assessed'. Their feeding frenzy at the NHS feeding trough is being threatened!
Just how arrogant is this? Public money is being spent on ludicrously expensive drugs, and the drug companies object to a decision that seeks to ensure that taxpayer's money is being spent appropriately! They must assume they have some kind of 'right' to the money being spent on their drugs. And that our government has not responsibility to make decisions that are detrimental to their profitability.
Of course, that is not the way they put it, or how our meek mainstream media is describing it. The government is denying patients access to 'life-saving' drugs (according to the BBC), or, if you prefer the 'Mail Online',
"Thousands of women with advanced breast cancer are set to be denied ‘last chance’ medication that can give them extra months, if not years, with their loved ones".
Although the Media is sufficiently honest to point out the costs of these drugs, up to £90,000 per year per patient, little or nothing was said about the safety of effectiveness of the six drugs, Eribulin, Avastin, Kadcyla, Afinitor, Tyverb and Perjeta. So let's consider just one of these, Avastin, and consider it's history.
Avastin was approved in February 2004 by the FDA, the US drug regulator. Within 5 months, however, it discovered that the new 'wonder drug' could cause stroke, heart attacks, angina, and double the risk of a fatal blood clot. Apparently, even when it was approved, Avastin was known to cause fatal stomach perforations and congestive heart failure. The situation only got worse, though.
- Avastin has been found to cause 'potentially fatal' brain inflammation.
- Avastin has been found to cause blindness.
- FDA withdraws approval for Avastin, declaring it medically useless, but doctors still allowed to prescribe it (a useless drug)!
- NICE finds that Avastin is 'Too Expensive' For NHS (August 2014)
So, it would seem that what is being 'denied' to 'thousands of women with advanced breast cancer' is a 'life saving' drug that is exorbitantly expensive, dangerous to our health, and useless too!
Does that sound like a good deal? Well, it is good enough for the drug companies. And apparently it is good enough for our mainstream media, including the BBC, who continue to refuse to tell us the truth about conventional drugs and vaccines.
I suppose we are just expected to believe the passive and unquestioning promotion of pharmaceutical drugs, take it when they are given to us regardless of their affects on our health, and pay exorbitantly for the privilege!
Anyone want to stop jumping to Big Pharma's tune?
