Adventure Ausrama Blog

How can the state pay for drugs that are shown to be effective against disease but cost far too much? Regularly, someone will be on a current affairs television program and point their finger at the government for not continuing to supply their needed medication. In the long term a government must balance the books. There is simply not enough revenue to provide new expensive drugs. A new treatment for melanoma called Ipilimumab is very effective, but it costs $120,000 for a three month course. It stops the cancer from spreading beyond the skin. Ipilimumab can also be used to treat some types of lung cancer. Should the government subsidize this drug? Like all medications there are side effects that can be severe in some patients. Symptoms include constipation, diarrhea, urination complications, bloating, stomach pain, fever and breathing difficulties. The drug usually extends life by several months. In some cases patients survive for a year. A value judgement is needed to d...

The medical community has just noticed a fact that many have known for years - Waiting a long time for an operation can lead to opioid addiction. It is easy to get opiates from GPs just by telling them that you are in excruciating pain and an operation is a long way off. Shane Jackson president of the Tasmanian Pharmaceutical Society says money should be spent on more pain management specialist. This is a waste considering they only tell patients to take paracetamol that does not stop strong pain. Setting up a data base will only lead to patients being denied opiates so they experience more pain and suffering. Blame the patients has always been easy to do. A data base will stop people getting morphine derivatives from all GPs. This creates an added problem. The solution is more medical staff and facilities to do more operations. Reducing the risk of opiate addiction can be solved by denying patients access to such drugs, Though they may turn up in the hospital emergency departme...

A new cancer drug has been announced by Cancer Therapeutics CRC in Melbourne. CTx-294886 is to be used in conjunction with another medication, Avastin. Furthermore, a new type of scanning has been developed by the same company. It will identify protein homeostasis, a new pathway in cancer treatment. CTx-0294886 stops tumour growth by inhibiting Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor 3 (VEGFR3). This with Avastin reduces angiogenesis, slowing tumor growth in breast cancer. Examination of effects in head, neck and cervical cancers is ongoing. The company has already developed a primary anti-cancer medication, CTx-294945). Both drugs can now be used to prolong life when dancer is detected. Research was done with the assistance of Australian and international institutions. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://www.feeds.feedburner.com/AdventureAustralia http://www.technorati.com/blogs/ htt...

Fungal infection is the most difficult thing to treat.  Taking medication and applying ointment may seem to solve the problem - for a while.  Unfortunately, the skin may appear to be free of infection but it is still there and will reappear. It is not commonly known that deaths from fungal infection are higher than all the deaths from malaria and tuberculosis.  Treatment for other ailments can involve immunossuppressive medication.  This allows fungal infections to run wild.  You would think there is enough demand and money for pharmaceutical companies to develop better anti-fungal drugs.  However, sufferers do not know how deadly the "disease" can be, so they are not prepared to pay a high price for new treatments.  This is despite the fact that fungal infection can appear in any part of the body. Unfortunately, the World Health Organization shows little interest in the problem.  Doctors also tend to brush aside fungal infections when examinin...

People are taking more prescription drugs. Western countries including Australia make them easy to obtain because they are heavily subsidized. As developing countries move forward they too are inclined to make medications available to everyone. We take it for granted that all medicines will be "out there" ready to buy. Last year in the US 196 common drugs were in short supply. Less than 100 ran short in 2006. Most of the medications were for anaesthetic, cancer or anti-infection use. Recently, shortages became apparent in Australia. Use of alternative drugs is not ideal. Side effects and less effective treatment occur. It seems pharmaceutical manufacturers are only interested in producing products with safe patents that have high profit margins. When patents expire and governments want cheap generic drugs they are becoming harder to obtain. Governments are economically inelastic when it comes to what they will pay. They offer drug companies a fixed amount - tak...

Coles has chosen not to sell beef enhanced by Hormone Growth Promotants (HGP). For making this stand it has been condemned by Animal Health Alliance (AHA). Note that AHA is financed by pharmaceutical companies. Elanco and Pfizer are members of this organization. Saying that Coles ignores scientifically based findings that HGP beef is safe is unscientific in itself. No number of tests will ever prove it to be safe because it hasn't been in use long enough to ascertain its dangers. CSIRO has found HGP beef to be of poor eating quality, and as Coles makes a quality related buying decision is will not be purchased by them. This is a free country and producers "jumping up and down" will not make consumers buy their product. HGPs make cattle grow faster so it should be cheaper. Unfortunately, this saving is not passed on to the buyer. Indeed, consumers will pay more for non-HGP beef. Sales of HGP meat is declining and it won't be around for much longer. How can Coles action...

Talk about looking after your own - the better off looking after each other. The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia is setting up a register of pharmacists affected by the floods. Pharmacists in unaffected states are offering to give financial help. This is disgraceful! What about patients who cannot get necessary supplies, now? This is a case of a privileged group looking after themselves. It should be condemned. It is okay for them to give money to each other. The ordinary person gives a general donation and it is given to recipients based on need. At a time like this some people think only of money. Getting food, warm clothing and needed medications should be the main priority. The PSA should be giving millions of dollars to welfare organisations for this purpose, not thinking of setting up shop as soon as possible to make money. The truth is pharmacists don't compete with each other. It is like a "buddy" club. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www....