It is a shame that we all can’t, or won’t, see what is going on! Taxol, a drug discovered by the government and used for many of the 100 or so different kinds of cancers has gone generic. It is now 3 years beyond the patient expiration. The cost to consumers is up to $15,000 a patient. Bristol-Myers Squibb has priced Taxol out of the reach of public institutions. Pretty soon according to Washington rumors Medicare efforts to cap outpatient costs could lead to higher spending.

I can tell you from personal experience (diagnosed and operated on May 23rd) with Ovarian Cancer stage III (CO (that if I were not eligible for Medicare (by one year) I would not have 18 weeks of chemotherapy with a 30% chance of survival. The number of years Bristol Myers Squibb used lawsuits to delay the introduction of generic Taxol, a drug discovered by the government that treats breast cancer, complications of AIDS and ovarian cancer is 3.

“In a truly reprehensible example of corporate welfare and greed Bristol Myers Squibb continues to charge monopoly prices (a reported 2,000% mark up) for Taxol, a life-sustaining drug developed with millions of dollars of taxpayer-funded research and urgently needed by women stricken with breast and ovarian cancers and AIDS patients with Kaposi’s Sarcoma.” Some wise friend of mine, now deceased, said “If you can fix a problem with money, even if you don’t have the money, you don’t have a problem.” How wise he was, brain tumors and some of the 100 odd cancers, and other life threatening illnesses have no cure at all – money aside.

Because of my present situation this commentary cannot be long and as detailed as it usually is.

If the reader visits a cancer patient above all (1) don’t unload your own problems. Remember it is the patient who is sick (2) Ask what you can do to make life a bit more bearable and don’t nag.

P.S. my treatments cost $2759 a week for TaxoL AND $2,699 FOR Scisplantin and bendry.