Posts by Hazel Heal

  • Hard News: Drug Symposium day two: Māori…,

    Beautifully done Russell. The excitement of hearing Kiri and Chloe- everybody, but them, wow, most hopeful thing I have seen for ages.

    Dunedin NZ • Since Dec 2016 • 12 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Media Take: The price of imprisonment,

    Add to the price of imprisonment, getting hep C as well as the sentence. If we accept, as I do, that we are not as different to Australia in just this one thing: we line up in stats around what we do know about prevalence, which isn't much, on the whole a bit worse here, so it can't be accepted that we have 5% HCV in prison, (Corrections spokesperson, RNZ) whereas Australia has published research putting it at 40-50%. 15 % of people who were negative when they got there, leave with it- in NZ that could be 900 people per year. They are 150 x more likely to get in jail than in community. We need testing, treatment, or Corrections is failing their duty of care.

    Dunedin NZ • Since Dec 2016 • 12 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Drugs and why Dunne did it,

    Great piece, great writing as ever, looking forward to the symposium.

    Dunedin NZ • Since Dec 2016 • 12 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: The Oncoming Day, in reply to Sacha,

    That is exactly what I spelled out for them, quoting both of those, in my letter of July 16. Got slapped down.

    Dunedin NZ • Since Dec 2016 • 12 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: The Oncoming Day,

    I first wrote to the SDHB, following an email exchange, on 14 July 2016, to point out it was 9 months since the unit was aware of the generic option. First trials had been published; asking that they at least inform if not support those who don't qualify:
    "In that 9 months, in my opinion, people whose condition has deteriorated to the level they now qualify for Harvoni, may not have if they had been offered timely advice. Some of those people will die because they were not. From now on, everybody who worsens has lost the chance to stop the virus sooner"
    Other than on Morning Report last Friday, when Dr Millar said it had always been, of course, their practice to tell people their options, I have never heard, or been told any different to my final exchange Nov17 2016:
    "There has been no change in the position taken by the SMOs in the Gastroenterology service employed by SDHB.
    We will continue to support efforts to widen access to DAAs through standard NZ regulatory channels. I understand this has already been outlined to you in previous correspondence".

    Dunedin NZ • Since Dec 2016 • 12 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: The Oncoming Day,

    Brilliant, thanks Russell. And thank you re those stuff comments. I submitted one to point out what was missing in 'where to get help', or the article, ( FixhepC, Or NZHF) as you have. That didn't get past the moderator, whereas the immoderate does.
    It is not penny pinching by Pharmac, it is simply impossible, the cost is too unreasonable.
    And yes to this:
    'There was a particular issue here in whether bending to Gilead's profiteering would have been a good thing',
    Scroll down this article and check out the graphic of Gilead's profit escalating as deaths occur: http://www.globaljustice.org.uk/blog/2017/may/10/how-many-hepatitis-c-deaths-does-it-take-make-billion-dollars-drug-company

    Dunedin NZ • Since Dec 2016 • 12 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Hep C: When doctors do the…,

    Update to this is, HDC have accepted my complaint and have asked the SDHB to respond to it. Since this blog this article has appeared in the Lancet on the issue of global access to hep C meds. generic in particular: http://fixhepc.com/media/kunena/attachments/391/Importation-of-generic-hepatitis-C-therapies.pdf

    Dunedin NZ • Since Dec 2016 • 12 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Hep C: When doctors do the…,

    I would also like to say that I am sorry for (nearly) all the SDHB gastro clinicians. I can slag them off in this way and I know they have no right of reply, which is unfair. Their only right of reply is all through their Team Leader, who claims they agree,,,,, but just on common sense, there can't be a single pocket of unified clinicians who see things differently- wrongly according to me and the gastro guidelines- they are doctors and go to work to make people better- this will be disheartening and I regret that. I am taking the management's rigid stated policy to the Commissioner, not the doctors. I hear what is said above about treatment eligibility v. complaining about treatment already received. But, if unsuccessful, at least it gets an airing here, and the SDHB had stated they would not discuss it or write to me about it again. There is a complaint in that- they cannot just block me- but it wouldn't achieve anything.

    Dunedin NZ • Since Dec 2016 • 12 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Hep C: When doctors do the…, in reply to Lilith __,

    That was such a great story, isn't it Lilith-I have been thinking about it all week. See, he went to a meeting and heard people talking about generic hep C medication- he joined our groups- James Freeman's activities have had this enormous spin off too, everywhere.... this is the result of people saying, enough is enough. Who knows who is reading this story and coming up with something else. We need stories, we need talking, we need lots of people saying enough is enough.

    Dunedin NZ • Since Dec 2016 • 12 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Hep C: When doctors do the…,

    Thank you Russel, well told. At the start though, regarding Gilead's attempting to recoup it's development costs, don't worry about that- they achieved that in about the first month of sales. In fact, they have smashed every previous records for profit, over cost for bringing to market- unprecedented in the world. Next nearest took 9 years to make the profit they made in 18 months- this is in the whole of the pharma industry history, It is never enough money, for them.

    Dunedin NZ • Since Dec 2016 • 12 posts Report Reply

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