Democrats like AOC love to invoke “Big Pharma” as the ultimate embodiment of greed and evil, but do they actually know what Big Pharma does? They propose all sorts of legislation that would tie pharmaceutical companies’ hands, ostensibly to benefit consumers, but in reality, their success would drastically reduce quality of life for millions of Americans (and millions more around the world).
Tweeter @molratty — who you should be following, by the way — shared a thread detailing how “Big Pharma” has affected her own family’s well being. And it throws a massive wrench in Democrats’ preferred narrative:
My dad was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer at the end of last year. He also has Parkinson’s and several other health conditions. He used to bike 100 miles a week. Now he can barely walk.
— Mo Mo (@molratty) February 27, 2020
They took a lung biopsy to confirm the diagnosis and to determine a course of treatment. They were using the tissue to search for mutations that are targets for new treatments–drugs that target the mutations to stop production of proteins that grow cancer cells.
— Mo Mo (@molratty) February 27, 2020
These drugs are near miraculous. Unlike chemo that just kills cells indiscriminately–healthy or cancerous–the drugs specifically target only cancer cells.
— Mo Mo (@molratty) February 27, 2020
While the doctors were examining the tissue, looking first for the most common mutations, Dad ended up with an infection from the biopsy that landed him in nursing care for several weeks.
— Mo Mo (@molratty) February 27, 2020
Dad didn’t have the most common mutations, so they took blood and sent the rest of the biopsy tissue to Boston to look for a specific mutation for which a drug is being investigated in Phase III clinical trials–the trials that establish safety and efficacy for FDA approval.
— Mo Mo (@molratty) February 27, 2020
There wasn’t enough tissue for the Boston docs to detect a mutation. And the first round of blood tests didn’t detect it either. He can’t get chemo or immunotherapy. Both would probably kill him. He couldn’t get another biopsy. We were looking at hospice.
— Mo Mo (@molratty) February 27, 2020
In a last ditch attempt, the doctors took blood again to try and find this mutation that only 1% of lung cancer patients have.
— Mo Mo (@molratty) February 27, 2020
He has the mutation. We found out today that he cleared the screening for the clinical trial, so he will be getting treatment. In Phase II trials, the drug showed a 91% response rate and very few side effects.
— Mo Mo (@molratty) February 27, 2020
He was looking at months, at best, and now he might beat the cancer back. These kind of treatments seemed impossible, but here they are, thanks to those supposedly terrible, greedy pharma companies.
— Mo Mo (@molratty) February 27, 2020
When you hear politicians talking about how we need to punish pharma companies for seeking profits, remember there is another side to this they never ever talk about–the innovation that makes once seemingly impossible treatments possible.
— Mo Mo (@molratty) February 27, 2020
Price controls like those being promised by Bernie Sanders would effectively kill innovation — and countless people would suffer as a result.
In the meantime, we’re sending our best wishes to @molratty’s father and her family.
Praying for him.
— ???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ????????????????! (@BradEssex) February 27, 2020
Prayers for your father and for you.
— Here for our Great President Trump !! (@VictoriadParks2) February 27, 2020
Praying for y’all, Mo.
— monkeyboy10000 (@monkeyboy100001) February 27, 2020
Prayers for you and your dad. My husband had a lot of health issues including Parkinson’s. He recently passed away so his struggle is over. You are on a difficult journey but please be encouraged by all the people that have answered your tweet. You are not alone.Many care ????
— Linda e???? (@grammyLS) February 27, 2020