ValleyRD Mailing List: Fwd: Childhood Cancer Drug Shortage Emergency - Take Action Now

[Bob Heiser (w7ikt]

Friends,
Children are at risk because of cancer drug shortage. Please read the following and make a phone call, write a letter, or send an email.
Thank You,

Shaving the Way to Conquer Kids' Cancer
Bob Heiser

To view an online version of this email, click here.

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** TAKE ACTION NOW ** Childhood Cancer Drug Shortage Emergency Children with cancer are facing a crisis â a drug shortage that could threaten thousands of lives. Methotrexate, the most-advanced and most-effective drug to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood cancer, as well as other types of cancer, is in short supply. At this time, it is unknown when this supply will be replenished. The reasons for drug shortages are complex, and there is no easy solution, but Dr. Peter Adamson, chairman of the Childrenâs Oncology Group, the nationâs pediatric clinical trials network, speaks to the urgency of the issue: âThe methotrexate shortage is so acute that kidsâ lives are in immediate jeopardy.â Not all hospitals have begun to experience the shortage, but many have only enough to last a short while, in some cases just days. Others have already begun rationing. For patients with ALL, like 5-year-old Collin, who depend on this drug for survival, this is a matter of life or death. Collin, who was diagnosed with ALL at age 2, has already endured 3 Â years of chemotherapy treatment. He relapsed, which cut his survival rate nearly in half and added two additional years to his chemotherapy regimen. Methotrexate is a critical drug in Collinâs treatment. âThe loss of the drug methotrexate would essentially sign his death certificate,â said Kathleen Henry, Collinâs mom. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, all four pharmaceutical companies that make methotrexate have either slowed or stopped production. According to Dr. Michael P. Link, president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, as reported in the New York Times, âThis is a crisis that I hope the F.D.A.âs hard work can help to avert,â said Link. âWe have worked very hard to take what was an incurable disease (ALL) and make it curable for 90 percent of the cases. But if we canât get this drug anymore, that sets us back decades.â The St. Baldrickâs Foundation urges you to: Contact the companies that make Methotrexate. Tell them why itâs critical they: Prioritize production of the preservative-free form of the drug Work with the FDA to import preservative-free methotrexate if available Contact your Members of Congress: Tell them about the problem Ask them to contact the manufacturers of methotrexate. The companies are located in Illinois, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Their names, addresses and email addresses are listed below. To identify your Member of Congress, click here: Take Action Against Childhood Cancer Drug Shortage Please Speak Up for children with cancer today. In service of our children, Kathleen Ruddy Executive Director St. Baldrick's Foundation U.S. Manufacturers of Methotrexate F. Michael Ball Chief Executive Officer Hospira, Inc. 275 North Field Drive Lake Forest, Illinois 60045 1-877-946-7747 http://www.hospira.com/GlobalPages/contactus.aspx Heather Bresch Chief Executive Officer Mylan, Inc. 1500 Corporate Drive Canonsburg, PA 15317 1-888-258-4199 http://www.mylan.com/contact_us.aspx Donald DeGolyer President, Sandoz US Head, Commercial Operations, NA Sandoz, Inc. 506 Carnegie Center, Suite 400 Princeton, NJ 08540 1-609-627-8500 http://www.us.sandoz.com/contact_us/general_contact.shtml John Ducker President and Chief Executive Officer APP Pharmaceuticals, LLC 1501 East Woodfield Road, Suite 300 East Schaumburg, IL 60173-5837 1-888-386-1300 appmedicalinfo [at] APPpharma.com Share this letter: Â

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