Someone told that it is always good to look in the history and learn from it.
Somebody else said that sometimes talking in metaphors helps in better understanding a delicate/critical situation.

Regarding the Hippocratic Oath and the HCV patients, my metaphor is related to the solar system where:
– Life (or Health) = SUN (center of the solar system)
– The Hippocratic Oath = EARTH (the place where the patients and doctors are bounded via gravity)
– Intellectual Property = MOON ( a satellite orbiting the Earth and influencing it, via tides, from time to time).

Hundreds/Thousands of years ago, people believed wrongly that the MOON and the SUN are somehow similar, having almost the same size. They were thinking this by looking with their own eyes to the 2 celestial bodies. In time people got smarter and more educated and noticed that in fact the celestial bodies are not so similar. People like Giordano Bruno knew about this truth and …. he was burned at the stake. (I hope this will no longer happen…..). Years later it was confirmed he was right.

In the HCV context, LIFE is and will remain always the center of our solar system and has the highest role / importance / meaning / INFINITE VALUE.
The Hipocratic Oath with its satellite (the Intellectual Property) are orbiting the LIFE. No one should claim or say that the MOON (Intellectual Property) is the same with the SUN (Life). It would be a fool to sustain such things.

It will take however time until people will understand the real difference between Life and Intellectual Property, as it happened in the past with the MOON and the SUN….

Last but not least, in the days without clouds in the sky, whenever I looked at the SUN, it was always round and FULL in shape. But in the case of the MOON, I noticed there are days with FULL MOON, with HALF MOON, and with NEW MOONS. To me this means that the Intellectual Property should and must sometimes make a step back, while the LIFE will always remain/preserve the highest value!!!

Cheers,
RHF

There is one doctor in Romania that I never met, but I like reading his messages on the internet, especially when he is answering to people’s questions.

I will not make an advertise for him, but I like a lot his answer to the following question as he is one of the very few doctors from Romania making such information available:

” Romanian text:
I: Am inteles ca exista mai multe medicamente generice foarte eficiente in hepatita C, ati avut bolnavi tratati cu ele, cum au mers?
R: Anul trecut am* urmarit cateva zeci de pacienti tratati cu generice si toti s-au vindecat, iar efectele secundare au fost minore, fara sa fie necesara modificarea tratamentului.
* am corectat o mica eroare de tiparire..
// english translation //

Q: I understood there exist more generic drugs being very effective in hepatitis C, did you have sick people being treated by them, how did it go?
A: Last year I* followed a few dozen of patients treated with generics and all got cured, while the side effects were minor, without being necessary to modify the treatment.
*I corrected a small typing error.
”

Cheers,
RHF