I’m going to be at the Russell Senate office building today with Laura Musselwhite, the wonderful medical student from Duke University who wrote this incredible op-ed in the Winston-Salem journal about her patients who can’t afford the drugs that could save their lives:
A solution lies in a generic biologics proposal from Rep. Henry Waxman of California that would grant five years of data protection, the same given to conventional drugs, and would close loopholes that allow companies to extend these protections indefinitely. However, these provisions have yet to be added to health-care reform bills.
Laura and other medical students will be wearing their white coats, giving out “treats” and urging Senators not to “trick” the nation’s patients with Kay Hagan and Anna Eshoo’s bad ‘biologic’ medicines proposal. We’ll be meeting in the rotunda at Union Station at 2:30 pm, and walking over to Russsell at 3pm. DC details here.
Not going to be in DC you say? How about Palo Alto? The fantastic medical students Rebecca Mitchell and Connie Chen are organizing the same event in Palo Alto in front of Anna Eshoo’s office. Palo Alto details here.
Is North Carolina more your style? Don’t pass up this chance to meet the amazing Quang Pham in Raleigh at Kay Hagan’s office! The dynamic Duke biostatistics major Eric Butter is rumored to be attenting, and if you’re lucky, a special appearance by the mysterious AMSA mastermind Chris Manz. North Carolina details here.
And if you’re in Baltimore — well, it’s a “not to be missed” affair in front of Barbara Mikulski’s office at 2pm with the Other Jane: Jane Andrews. (Seriously, we really need people for this one, so if you’re of a mind to show up and support these wonderful students & take a camera along, it’s front page FDL for you!) Baltimore details here.
If you can’t make it, show your support by leaving a message on the Facebook events pages listed above for the students and letting them know how much you appreciate their fight on behalf of the patients of the future, and post these events to your own Facebook page. They work long hours every day and still make time for this, so let them know how much we all appreciate what they’re doing.
These events were cosponsored by POP, as part of our ongoing effort for health care advocacy. Join the POP facebook page here.
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I hope you have a productive day in the corridors of power today Jane!
And this diary is up at Kos:New Poll: “Career Suicide” for Blanche Lincoln if She Filibusters
sounds great. Will let friends in the D.C. area know. Have you contacted the Code Pink folks?
Wondering if Voinovich of Ohio could be persuaded to sponsor such a proposal in the Senate. He has said that the lack of attention in the most recent health care over haul legislation on pharmaceutical prices is one of his “deep concerns”
Thanks Jane !
Fabulous!
At the present time I am very interested in medical school culture. During the college football season I have been spending my weekends hanging out with medical students. It has been fascinating. I will be interested in learning how many white coats show up at these events.
stupid question:
how is it good business to price a product beyond affordability?
You know, she’s so eager to drive her elective official status off the cliff that I’ll bet she has a pretty soft landing spot within the healthcare lobbyist industry. Otherwise she would have wised up by now?
Of the insurance companies, by the insurance companies, for the insurance companies.
It’s not a stupid question and I have wondered that many times. And why spend all the money on R & D if the drug isn’t used.
A real blood and guts revolution could have avoided all this debate. heh
w00t! Give’em hell Hamsher!
Candy-Gram for Anna !
I am surprised that Anna is doing this. She lives in a very wealthy area and a very safe district.
David Dayen has a fresh cross-post up: “AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka On Unions, Blue Dogs, Health Care”
It is used. People will pay anything to save their lives — mortgage their homes, go into bankruptcy.
Some insurance plans cover these drugs, some cover part of their costs. They know their price point for maximum profit, you can count on it.
In response to dosido@7, twain@8 and Jane@14:
And most germane to the moment…
As was discussed yesterday – once you have a system that is set-up to pay the (ridiculously inflated) bills, well, then the gouging really starts.
This is our experience in Canada – and it is really a heavy burden on the Universal system because:
1) It ratchets up rationing due to exorbitant costs (eg. you get hard cut-offs for drug use based on diagnoses that often have considerable subjectivity in them)
2) It quickly becomes unsustainable cost-wise, which is then used (as is happening up here, right now) as a rationale by the neandercons for going to a ‘two-tiered’ system.
_____
(I’ve written a quite a lot about the latter at my place; here’s an example if anybody’s interested)
.
Oh please!!!
Code Pink is SO counterproductive, making every issue they “demonstrate” on appear to be a joke.
Only “contact” them to give them the wrong address.
I hope it’s being delivered by a Land Shark.