America's FDA approves yet another drug
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Thank you for the information, I am up for anything, within reason!! will tell my oncologist
wendy550 -
Hi all
Yes, America can be fast at it but (1) they are a far more populated and wealthy country and (2) Australia takes longer as our registration body watches for America's mistakes and also makes far more stringent tests prior to approval. We do benefit in the end.
Summer :-)3 -
Is interesting @Glemmis @Summerhill38 I have an email from Professor Ian Olver where he states drugs passing clinical trials o/s do not need further clinical trials in Australia but our govt is mindful of cost on putting them on PBS. It worries me that a lot of people here suffer needlessly until they are approved under PBS0
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@Romla, yes it just down to cost and very unfair for people living with metastatic cancer that they can't access these drugs. America now has 4 drugs of which we can only access 1 at $5,000 per month. I went to a seminar recently where Prof Fran Boyle from Mater Hospital in Sydney spoke about access to drugs that were evidence based but unfunded. We have great medical care but are very behind in terms of these drugs. I don't need those drugs yet but if that time comes I would like to think I had a few options.
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I am not sure but FDA approval doesn't, as far as I know, mean easy accessibility. Health care in the USA is great if you have money, not great if you don't. ObamaCare may not be a perfect solution but was motivated by a notion of a basic standard of universal health care, which I would have thought any democracy would want. ObamaCare is of course under extreme pressure. Subsidised medicine means that the state pays a significant difference. All budgets have to be accounted for, so not everything is possible. In health that means you must either have the wisdom of Solomon or a very high level of bloody mindedness. We would all like the medications we need to be subsidised and easily available. I benefited from BCNA's advocacy for the wider use of herceptin, for which I am grateful. Choosing what gets publicly paid for and what doesn't, at least yet, is a nightmare that I am glad I don't have to be responsible for.2
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Hi @Afraser, yes I know it is very expensive & mostly only available to people who can afford it in America but if it gets approved there & in Europe it seems to take years for them to reach here just for approval & then who knows a lot longer for PBS approval. At the talk I went to the oncologist played 2 videos starring herself as an oncologist giving the news to a breast cancer patient about her cancer spreading. It was about whether doctors should tell their patients about drugs that could help them but are very expensive & judging first whether the patient can afford them. It was debated that doctors shouldn't assume a patient can't afford the drugs & all drugs should be offered. So your doctor may not tell you what is available, you have to do your own research as one of the lovely ladies on this forum did & told her story at the talk of how she accessed the drugs from overseas.0
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Well at least the debate got to the right conclusion. I ask doctors for medical advice, not for financial counseling! It's up to the individual what they do (or can afford do) with that advice.2
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Here you go @Summerhill38- I was asking about Prolia but if you read further you can see that o/s testing is accepted in Australia
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Hi @Romla, just letting you know that I have removed your full name and email address form the above post to protect your privacy.0
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Thanks @Marianne_BCNA1
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Thanks. Interesting read.1
