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Jackson,
Forgive me for jumping in.
I want to change your focus.
How fast can you discover:
(a) The important AIDS organizations on the internet.
(b) Draft an E-MAIL to them that says the following:
The FDA has not voted on Paxene to the delight of
Bristol-Meyes Squibb. (BMY earns approximately $1.7
mil. dollars a day in sales as long as it is delayed)
Below is the story of Mr. XXXXXXXX as spoken by
Mr. XXXXXXXX at the FDA Advisory meeting on
Sept. 19th.
Today is November 9th.
Isn't it time the DARK AGES ended?
Please help Mr. XXXXXXXX receive the Paxene he requires.
From the FDA advisory meeting of Sept 19th.
MR. XXXXXXXX: Good morning, ladies and
gentlemen. My name is Eric XXXXXXXX. I am not being
financially rewarded for being here today. I'm here
out of a heartfelt concern.
Since I was 15 years old, I have worked as
a fashion model. This allowed me to move away from
home at 17 to support myself through college and to
pay for it and I was a taxpaying citizen where I
contributed to society in general. This was until two
years ago.
In the fall of 1995, I was diagnosed with
AIDS. More devastating was the fact that I had
Kaposi's sarcoma, KS. After an endoscopy to show that
the KS was rampant throughout my insides, after a
couple of weeks lesions began to appear all over my
body.
My world began to collapse. I was 30
years old. I relied on my physical appearance as the
basis of my existence. This was my means of
livelihood. Why was I being tortured? I had been
completely healthy all my life. I was a vegetarian.
I didn't smoke. I never did drugs or alcohol and I
was not promiscuous. I wanted to know why this was
happening to me.
My doctors immediately started me on
chemotherapy. This scared me because I had seen the
faces of people on chemo and in my experience those
people didn't have a long chance of survival.
Reluctantly, I started a clinical trial of Donozone.
I was concerned about hair loss, but I was assured
that this would not be a side effect. This made a
vain man happy.
I remained on the study for about six
months. I experienced nausea, vomiting, sleep loss,
loss of appetite, subsequent weight loss and a host of
other problems. My heart infraction rate became too
low. I couldn't tolerate the drug any longer. Early
in 1996 I had to stop treatments.
My doctors decided to start me on ABV. I
was told that I would definitely experience hair loss.
Around this time I started to experience edema, my
features grew beyond recognition, my lesions grew
worse. They became open ulcers and wounds. I needed
my bandages cleaned and changed three times daily.
I went from 170 pounds down to 125 pounds.
I couldn't walk. I used a wheelchair because I didn't
have the strength to move, or to bathe, or to even go
to the toilet. Obviously the ABV wasn't working.
Needless to say, I gave up hope. I
reached a low in my life I had never known. I
considered suicide. I asked my primary care provider
about assisted suicide. I started to give away my
life souvenirs and treasures. I prepared myself and
my loved ones for me death, or they prepared me. They
were so tired of seeing me suffer that they said that
if God was ready and if I wanted to, that I could give
up.
My hopes, my dreams were all gone. I
considered myself a monster. I couldn't look at
myself in the mirror. KS had taken away my pride, my
dignity.
In all my misery, however, the one thing
that I didn't lose was my spirit. My soul is good and
joyously in all my darkness I attracted many wonderful
people into my life. Many doctors, nurses and the
support system.
One of those doctors highly recommended
that I try this new protocol. I had no choice. It
was either Paxene, ICU or death. At this point, what
was there to lose? My hair?
I started Paxene in June of 1996 along
with a triple antiretroviral protease inhibitor
therapy. I cut my hair really short so I wouldn't see
it fall out. Surprisingly, my hair never fell out.
In actuality, I never experienced any side effects.
My doctors told me I wouldn't see the
effects of the triple therapy for about three months
to a year. However, after my first cycle of Paxene,
I began to see and feel a positive difference.
I am now up to my 30th cycle. Treatments
are every two weeks. My lesions have faded. Many are
barely noticeable. My ulcers have healed. I have
regained all my weight, plus some. I have regained --
I have my normal energy level. I am even running
three miles a day.
More remarkably, my appearance has
improved so greatly that I am back to work as a
fashion model headed for a career in television.
Now, here is my plea. Paxene is not
political with me. Nor is it a miracle drug. It is
simply my life. It may not be a cure for this dreaded
disease, but it makes life a whole lot more
manageable. It has given me the ability to once again
look in the mirror to see what's really there, a
person full of life and love and has given me the
ability to share that joy.
I hope you will immediately approve Paxene
so many other people will have a chance to once again
have dignity and self worth. But more importantly, as
only a person who has seen the face of death will ever
know, the true miracle of this drug is its ability to
allow one to appreciate every moment that they once
again have been granted and to lead a more fulfilling
and rewarding life.
I greatly urge you to immediately approve
Paxene for the treatment of KS. A small company like
Baker-Norton cannot survive another couple of years,
therefore they will have to discontinue operations and
I will no longer have the drug. Ultimately, the
promise of my future will be taken away again. Thank
you.
Jackson, you have a REMARKABLE ability to find information.
I am envious.
But please understand we are in a POLITICAL situation here,
not a medical one, not a poor management one, etc.
Lets just do it.
Regards,
John McCarthy |
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