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Vororo
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LondonGirl wrote: Journalists are writing ...in the UK, but Gvt interfering,. The BBC is sadly no longer what it was ....
Here is a copy of the mail message that I sent to the BBC on 29/12/2015:
Dear BBC,
This is a message for Fergus Walsh or anyone else in the Health & Medical Team who might be interested to take up this story.
I would like to draw your attention to the amazing story of Dr James Freeman, a rather special GP in Australia, who a few months ago launched "fixHepC" (fixhepc.com) - a "buyers club" for Hepatitis C sufferers that is rapidly becoming the only feasible source of treatment for many UK, european, and American patients.
Why might this make a news-worthy story? Here are some basic facts:
* The hepatitis C virus has been called a "silent killer" because it can take many years for people to learn that they have the virus, and then many more years for serious life-threatening diseases such as cirrhosis or even liver cancer to develop. But even if these conditions do not ultimately develop, the effects of the virus can be devastating, with the principal symptom being fatigue.
* Approximately 659 000 people in the UK have the hepatitis C virus, which is the principal cause of cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer.
* World-wide, it has been estimated that some 170 000 000 people have the disease. This makes hepatitis C a global health issue.
* While very effective treatments now exist, the list price of "sofosbuvir", manufactured by Gilead Sciences Inc., is a staggering $84 000 for 3 months of treatment. This makes it literally $1 000 per pill. Furthermore, sofosbuvir, should not be taken alone. It has to be used together with another drug such as daclatasvir or ledipasvir, which increases the cost even further.
* In the UK, the cost of the same or similar drugs is breath-taking, costing from around £25 000 to £ 60 000, according to the latest NICE recommendations:
www.nice.org.uk/news/press-and-media/nic...ions-for-hepatitis-c
* This means that at today's prices, it would cost the UK between somewhere between £16 Billion and £39 Billion to treat everyone in the UK who has this disease.
* Consequently, treatments in the UK have to be prioritised, and many people with the disease will have to wait until their condition becomes life-threatening. This means that even though a treatment now exists, many people still have to suffer the often devastating effects of the disease just because of the price. Similar cost-based restrictions in the USA and the rest of europe also apply.
* Because of the extortionate cost of the American drugs, more and more people from the UK, the USA and the rest of europe are travelling to Australia to obtain a treatment.
* The fixHepC buyers club is able to source quite legally for Australians the same treatment from generic suppliers in China at a total cost of between $1000 and $1600 for a full 3-months of treatment. This is nearly 1/100 of the American list price.
* fixHepC is treating some 100 patients per week, and the numbers are rising rapidly.
* The Australian government recently negotiated a deal with Gilead to provide *unlimited* access to all Australians to a hepatitis C treatment, regardless of the severity of their disease. But this will still cost Australia many thousands of dollars per person. Consequently, more and more people are still turning to the fixHepC buyers club for a treatment.
For more background information, I urge you look at the fixHepC "blog"
fixhepc.com/blog.html
I also encourage you to look at some news and TV reports that have appeared recently in Australia:
au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/video/watch/3028...ub-initiative/#page1
www.smh.com.au/national/health/fixhepc-t...20151002-gjzud9.html
www.smh.com.au/national/health/hepatitis...20150924-gjts1t.html
I am sorry to report that this mail went unanswered...
Diagnosed Jan 2015: GT3, A0+F0/F1. Fatigue + Brain-Fog.
Started Sof+Dac from fixHepC 10-Nov-2015. NO sides.
Pre-Tx: AST 82, ALT 133, Viral Load 1 900 000.
Week4: AST 47, ALT 58. VL < 15 (unquantifiable).
Week12 (EOT): AST 30, ALT 26, VL UND
Week16 (EOT+4): AST 32, ALT 28, GGT 24, VL UND
Week28 (EOT+16): AST 26, ALT 22, GGT 24, VL UND
Ever grateful to Dr James.
Relapsed somewhere after all that... Bummer!
Jan 2018: VL 63 000 (still GT3).
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