Comment: In addition to signing the petition for CMS, please also write to your member of the House of Representatives and Senators to ask them to address this horrifying situation with legislation that requires CMS to reimburse for this life saving treatment.
Robert Atcher
President-elect, Society of Nuclear Medicine
Comment: In addition to signing the petition at the lymphoma website, send a letter to your Representative and Senators demanding that they pass legislation to address this horrifying situation.
Robert Atcher
President-Elect
Society of Nuclear Medicine
Comment: Here's an alternative solution. visit http://www.lymphomation.org/CMS-endorse-RIT.htm
Sign this petition. It will be delivered to the CMS. 3000 people have signed it so far. There is absolutely no excuse not to sign this.
Mr. Alter... thank you so much for your article. it's the exact fuel that this fire needs to apply that "heat" as another commentor mentioned.
Comment: dfasdf
Comment: Readers can go to the web site of the Lymphoma Research Foundation -- www.lymphoma.org -- and select Public Policy / Action Center to send a letter of concern to the secretary of Health and Human Services in Washington, DC. It takes about 3 minutes to do this. Please let your voice be heard!
Comment: Thank you so much for enlightening us.
Comment: Heat must be applied to allow this life-saving drug. A cure or long remission means less money spent on these patients in the long run. Doesn't the goverment understand this?
Comment: I'm disgusted by the idea that some doctors don't tell their patients about life saving therapies because they will lose the patient to a large institution. Don't they take an oath to do no harm? For our sake I hope doctors like this are the exception and not the rule. But in case they aren't, it only proves the point I make to all of my loved ones: unfortunately, you cannot always trust the advice of health professionals. You must take responsibility to educate yourself about your disease and get a second opinion if possible.
Comment: More action needs to be taken to stop this funding cut. Thank you for posting such an articulate article about another threat to our nation's health.
Comment: Action needs to be taken to stop this funding cut. Thank you for an articulate article on such an important health topic.
Comment: Hello Mr. Alter,
The link to your column from the Drudge report has changed and now brings me to a general Newsweek site where I can't find you. Could you talk to the drudge people and get it fixed?
Comment: It is so sad that as always it is about money and not lives. The pharmaceutical companies are out to make their money at any cost. Hospitals and Doctors are just as bad. My favoirte line has always been..."You have a lot of patients but I have only one Father and one Mother." That was before the Doctor's mistakes took the life of my Dad from Lymphoma who was misdiagnosed in 1990...and a mistake by our internist caused the death of my Mom this past August.. Doctors are out for the money. It is so sad, that it has come down to that nawadays.
Comment: The greed of non-affilliated doctors is to be expected but perhaps the problem is that SmithKline did not make the correct contributions to the correct political party.
It frightens me, I receive medicare, that one agency, of political apontees could make a deciision contrary to the facts, that might end my life prematurely.
Mickey Vail
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Comment: Dear Mr. Alter - thank you for writing about this issue and for publicizing the ridiculous injustice of this 'final ruling.' It is my great hope that this ruling will be reversed and that Bexxar and Zevalin might be available one day for my mom, who has Non-hodgkins Lymphoma.
Comment: RIT has been maligned as ???too expensive.??? Take another look.
Diagnosed with follicular lymphoma in January 2002, my disease proved refractory to the two types of chemotherapy that was tried, and both types had to be suspended before I completed the full regimen of either. RIT became available in the nick of time in September 2002.
My medical bills totaled $199,339.22 between January and December of that year. $166,409.72 was spent on doctor visits, tests, scans, chemotherapy (only partial regimens, remember!) that failed to arrest the disease but often sent me to the hospital with more (costly!) side effects than I care to recall.
RIT ??? including the drugs, all the doctor visits, scans and tests associated with it ??? totaled $36,929.50.
So let???s do the math. I???ve been healthy for 5 full years, making the cost of RIT treatment $7,385.90 per year for each year that I got to stay alive because the treatment was available. That???s a small price to pay for having my life back.
I suspect the bean counters at CMS have fancy degrees from prestigious colleges. It???s time they go back to basic math. Maybe they???d stop costing themselves money ??? and killing innocent patients.
Comment: Sounds bad on government beuracacy. Or does it? It does seem a bit much to charge $25,000.00 for a treatment. CMS low reimbursement and GSK cost sounds like a pissing contest that only will result in loss of acess to health care.
MG MD internal med
Comment: Comment: We donate money so a cure can be found for many of our diseases, but when we finally find something that works like Zevalin and Bexxar, congress to pulls the plug. There are many people who have lymphoma that have insurance and many that don't. Do we let our small children die before they have a chance to live. Do we let our family and friends die because they can' t afford the drug that will save their life? This final ruling on November 1st needs to be heard again. We are murdering our own citizens for money.
Thank you for bringing attention to this matter.
Comment: I am adding my grateful voice to the chorus of non-Hodgkins lymphoma survivors who had the benefit of Zevalin, in my case in March 2006 following a relapse. I am still cancer free and hope to see my two young daughters grow up. Thank you, Mr. Alter, for drawing attention to this issue.
Comment: This fight is similar in that these beurocracies and their unethical and unreasonable approach to the sick, just makes you sick. The CareToLive vs. FDA fight that they are waging on behalf of cancer patients faces the same kind of fight against the morons in Washington. George Bush said that health care decisions should be made between doctor and patient.: lets see him back that statement up with action agaiints these agencies.
Where is congress when you need them? A. Somewhere having lunch with a lobbyist and holding thei hand out.
Keep fihgting for justice and reform and those at CTL will do the same.
Comment: Thank you so much for giving this important cancer research issue the attention it deserves. I too am a Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma survivor. I had Zevalin in February of 2006 as a part of a stem cell transplant. I got the strategic radiation of my cancer cells rather than the total body radiation that patients usually get with a stem cell transplant. I lost my father and uncle to NHL in 2000 and 2002. I like to think the Zevalin that I got will give me a better shot at long term survival. They only lasted less than 3 years each from day of diagnosis. I will be three years from diagnosis in March 2008. I am in remission and in great health. The elimination of Zevalin and Bexxar would be an incredible setback on the great field of cancer treatments right now. Your article is a god-send! You are a saint for publishing it!!!
Comment: Thank you so much for covering this crisis. I too am a Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Survivor. I had Zevalin in February of 2006 as a part of a stem cell transplant. It was in place of full body radiation. Zevalin and Bexxar are strategic bombing of cancer rather than the traditional carpet bombing. We are getting smarter with cancer treatments. These are proof!!! You are a saint for giving this issue the attention it deserves!!
Mrs Paterson
Houston, TX
Comment: This is just the tip of the iceberg of a national healthcare system that so many view as the solution to our real healthcare crisis. In the future it will be "drop dead" to everyone who falls outside the mystical parameters of the government healthcare bureaucracy. Anybody who has faith that, at least, those who can pay will have access to these kinds of things had better think twice.
Comment: Thank you so much for this fantastic article! I received Zevalin on 9/18 of this year and am currently planning a stem cell transplant on 11/27. While I had achieved remission prior to receiving it I had confidence knowing any little cells hiding were going to be attacked soon.
We can't let congress do this do us and our families! This is my second time with Lymphoma and my doctor immediately suggested a stem cell transplant and radioimmunotherapy and immediately sent me to St Louis University Hospital for treatments. I am so thankful! I am in a clinical trial to study the effects of Zevalin over a 10 year period. I'm proud to do it!
The public also needs to be aware of Lymphoma and those of us living with it everyday. Thanks for also getting the name Lymphoma out in the public!
JudyO
Comment: This story is reprentative of what's happening in health care in America today. There are thousands of other mind-boggling stories that defy logic. I know because I'm an RN. A significant part of my nursing practice involves teaching (behind the back door, at times) my patients and their families how to navigate the system, and/or physicians, to receive the appropriate and usually simple health care they need. think.
Comment: The unbelievable but true state of health care in America is totally represented in this article. There are thousands of other stories just like this. I know because I'm an RN. I spend a significant amount of my practice counseling families on how to "work the system, work the doctors", whatever is needed to get the appropriate, easily available health care that just gets lost in the system.
Comment: Thank you Jonathan for giving me back the hope that I will be able to utilize Bexxar or Zevalin for my next treatment. I have Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and am presently in remission after five long months of chemo.
Comment: To paraphrase that classic New York City headline from the 70's, Washington to cancer patients - drop dead. This ruling hits all cancer patients, not just those with lymphoma. Radioimmunotherapy, an approach now perfected for lymphomas, is a general strategy applicable to all cancers where specific monoclonal antibodies are available. Many such antibodies have been developed to specifically target various types of cancer cells. What company will make the huge investment to develop these therapies now? I am an NHL patient who has received Zevalin.
Comment: Thank you Jonathan for a great article. I have Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (B-cell) and am grateful for your efforts to bring the struggle for affordable treatments to the attention of the general public. Maybe RIT will extend my life.
Comment: Jonathan, thank you for being brave enough to speak out on a subject that Washington does not want us to know. This ruling not only affects lymphoma patients today, but creates a dangerous disincentive for the development of future therapies, as Dr. Richard Schafer, President of the American Society of Hematology who is quoted in the article, states, "It (the ruling) could have a chilling effect on the development of future drugs and radiopharmaceuticals for treating other forms of cancer and other disease." Others have been
voicing similar concerns for months. Every single American who now has or may ever have any type of illness needs to voice their opposition to this ruling (CMS-1392-FC) to their congressional representatives - and perhaps remind them that elections are coming and the 10.5 million cancer survivors PLUS their friends and families are listening. The question is, will any of them listen to us?
Comment: Thanks, Jonathon for continuing to increase awareness about cancer, and regarding this story, the politics and money issues. Insurance, health care and governmental regulations are huge issues on access, and development of life saving treatments. Yes - Sen. Kennedy should set hearings - this treatment, and it's potential demise, may be a very good example of how the system is currently flawed.
Comment: thanks
Enter comments if any for reporting abuse
SPORTS Luxury stadiums are on the rise. A top seat can cost $150,000. Beer costs extra.
Sponsored by
|
VIEWPOINT The vast majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the direction of the country. So who are the 10 percent who think everything is A-OK?
Sponsored by
|
Loading Menu
