Pharmac backtracks on plan to fund lung cancer drug Keytruda
The move has dashed hopes that Keytruda would soon be publicly funded for lung cancer - New Zealand's biggest cancer killer. RNZ has obtained documents showing Pharmac had planned to offer a Request for Proposals, or RFP, where drug companies are asked to pitch their products and prices, but has put that on hold due to budget constraints. Chief executive Sarah Fitt told RNZ that Pharmac was concerned about rising drug prices worldwide in the Covid-19 pandemic and that it could not commit to funding the drug now - but still hoped to in the future.
Lung cancer patients and their advocates are devastated and said they had been given false hope. Keytruda is available in New Zealand but patients must fund it themselves. "So what we now have is 30 lung cancer patients continuing to die prematurely every week and you have to ask yourself, is that acceptable?" Fitt said funding a drug like Keytruda for lung cancer would have cost hundreds of millions over the next five years and Pharmac could not commit to that given the Covid-19 outbreak.
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We're talking new year resolutions...
Tidying the house before going to bed each night, meditating upon waking or taking the stairs at work.
What’s something quick, or easy, that you started doing that made a major positive change in your life?
Light up your life
The Karen Walker Paints collection from Resene will see you sprucing up your home in style with this simple but fun project using your favourite Karen Walker testpot colours. Find out how to create your own with these easy step by step instructions.
Senior Moment
A little silver haired lady calls her neighbour and says,
“Please come over here and help me. I have a puzzle and I can’t figure out how to get started.”
Her neighbour asks “ What is it meant to be when it’s finished?”
The little silver haired lady says
“According to the picture on the box it’s a rooster”
The neighbour decides to go over and help with the puzzle. She lets him in and shows him where she has the puzzle spread all over the table.
He studies the pieces for a moment, then looks at the box, then turns to her and says,
“First of all, no matter what we do we’re not going to be able to assemble these into anything resembling a rooster.”
He takes her hand,
Secondly “I want you to relax. Let’s have a nice cup of tea,”and then … he said with a deep sigh,
“Let’s put all the cornflakes back in the packet”
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