TOPIC:

There is an old Chinese curse "May you live in interesting times". If nothing else the future will be interesting.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_you_live_in_interesting_times

Dr. Freeman,

I think its fair to say we have differing world views. We live in different countries, in different hemispheres, on opposite corners of the world...

When I discovered that I had been refused a prescription for Harvoni by my insurer, you were literally my savior You intervened with an international prescription, honored by Monkmed in India, and my life was once again - for the first time since I learned of my diagnosis, over 20 years ago - my own.

Now, after 3 months of generic DAA therapy, and three additional months of waiting for my SVR12 result, my life is truly once and for all, really my own.

Wow.You came through Doc! Honest to God, gangbusters! You saved my life.

Please - resist the temptation to take sides, to engage in politics. Regardless of personal feelings for or against the politics of the moment, or the day, or the decade - you, your movement, our movement - to eradicate Hep C worldwide, transcends all.

I'm an American, a Libertarian, formerly with Hep C. I have been cured, thanks to you, Monkmed, and the REDEMPTION 3 Trials.

What I know from ground level is this - the folks who against all predictions voted the incoming administration into power are precisely the folks we need to reach: Working class, rust belt, flyover territory Americans who live in the vast territory between the East Coast, and West Coast.

The official statistic for Americans with Hep C is 3.5 million. The actual numbers are probably far beyond that. Most (like me) are in that rust belt, "flyover" country between the coasts.

We need your support and counsel now more than ever.

I want to see Trump's tax returns.
They would probably make for some interesting reading.
As for Obamacare, at least SOMEBODY in Washington tried to help the people who needed access to health care get it.
Health Savings Accounts are nice, but only work if health care costs aren't rising exponentially faster than wages, which is not the case.
Repeal and replace. The former will be easy. The latter....we see.
There is no easy fix.
Now, there is a single party in power.
They have the chance they've been waiting on.
Interesting times indeed.
m

It would be nice to see a healthcare program which didn't involve stuffing the pockets of Big Pharma fat cats at the expense of American and frankly, world taxpayers.

The only way we get there is by bringing drug prices down, and not just down a little, but dramatically down. Down to the level where patients can actually afford the medications which keep them alive without mortgaging their homes and futures to stay above ground, and keep shovels full of dirt out their faces.

For the time being, we are on our own, just as we were a month ago, and the month before that - and arguing among ourselves, and endlessly rehashing the US election and shoving our personal politics down the gullets of whoever happens to drop into this forum doesn't help people get well, or find their way to an affordable cure for Hepatitis C.

If this forum has become about personal politics, then we might as well declare that, and say goodbye to reaching as many people in as many places around the world as we can, and just throw in the towel and yield the floor to Big Pharma, who are undoubtedly reading this thread with sincere delight.

By wearing our personal politics on our sleeves, we're throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

If you (meaning WE collectively) want to fight about politics, or shove your personal views down the throats of people who just came here looking for a cure, fine! I suggest we create a separate password protected area where forum members can bloody well have at it if they want to.

But, it doesn't belong here.

This is not about politics. This is about an extremely powerful man whose motives, loyalties and debts are totally unknown. His tax returns would shed some light on that.
We DO know he's easily offended, loves to impress and soon will be in charge of Customs and the FDA.
He could personally stop US generic importation in a heartbeat as a favor to one of his golfing buddies or to honor his "keep the jobs & dollars at home" pledge. It is scary to have such an unpredictable and volatile person in such a powerful position. Especially one so thin-skinned and quick to lash out in retribution.

This is about as relevant as it gets for this forum if you live in the US and have HCV.
Knowledge is power.
M

fitz wrote:
By wearing our personal politics on our sleeves, we're throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

If you (meaning WE collectively) want to fight about politics, or shove your personal views down the throats of people who just came here looking for a cure, fine! I suggest we create a separate password protected area where forum members can bloody well have at it if they want to.

But, it doesn't belong here.

"the pot calling the kettle black".....in before Gaj gives a warning, moving the thread or locked.

Quite right re-roll. Time to let it all go, and move on. I'm quite in agreement that this particular thread should be retired, locked, and removed from the main page.

We come to this site looking for hope and a cure. And, many of us have found exactly that here.

The last thing we need to encounter when we first arrive is an endless and increasingly divisive political discourse, and all of the hurt feelings and bruised egos which invariably result from such a pointless exercise.

fitz wrote: Quite right re-roll. Time to let it all go, and move on. I'm quite in agreement that this particular thread should be retired, locked, and removed from the main page.

We come to this site looking for hope and a cure. And, many of us have found exactly that here.

The last thing we need to encounter when we first arrive is an endless and increasingly divisive political discourse, and all of the hurt feelings and bruised egos which invariably result from such a pointless exercise.

Hi Fitz,

I partially disagree with the idea to remove or lock this thread. I mean, I am still interested to know more about what happens in India with the HCV drug patent, so from this perspective the thread should remain open. I would welcome any information about this topic that will be posted in this thread.

The politics discussions from this thread.... well, yes, there was some heat, people shared their views, I think it would be enough if the "political debate" will not continue in this thread. No need to remove the thread.

Going back to the initial topic, I still cannot find any updates about the situation of Sofosbuvir patent in India and we are now almost 3 weeks after the hearing date.

Cheers,
RHF

I 100% agree, the disagreement of politics will separate all of us very quickly. Let's just leave it be and control what we can control. God knows none of us here can control what goes on in Washington. So Demo or Repub let's move forward, lock this thread down!
In good health to all.

By popular demand this thread has been locked.