Better Access to Developmental Drugs. The Life you Save might be your Own.

Here is an email between a friend in the CLL community and the larger general cancer community, both fighting for the same goal, to allow earlier access to life saving drugs. We all owe a huge debt to these heros who are willing to see beyond themselves and fight the good and much bigger fight of changing the world through changing Washington. They need all our support. The life you save might be your own.

The HIV community won this fight for their cause, but it some ways ruined it for those who came after, as some procedures such as bone marrow transplants for breast cancer were legislated into place for emotional and feel good reasons and were subsequently found to be not only expensive, but useless and likely lead to much unneeded suffering. As a result, there is some hesitancy to rush down this path again. Scientific purists object for good reasons as this can screw up the critical studies needed to show that a therapy works or doesn't as happened with breast cancer and transplants, plus it is not in the interest of big PHARMA or in the legislatures or insurers that will need to pay for these expensive trials of one. (The Pulitzer prize winning, Emperor of All Maladies tells the whole story with clarity and wisdom. It is great read for this and a million other reasons. I highly recommend it.)

So we need to be astute and thoughtful on how we precede. After reading the following email if you want to help, please contact:

Give Patients a Fighting Chance

or

The Abigail Alliance

EMAIL BETWEEN THE ABIGAIL ALLIANCE AND GIVE PATIENTS A FIGHTING CHANCE

I want to ask Give Patients a Fighting Chance to join in on the early
stages of a very important effort.

The Abigail Alliance with our friends and allies is at the beginning
of launching a very significant and strong effort to bring attention
to and legislation for change at the FDA to save and extend many more
lives of patients fighting for their lives. This effort will be
launched with the premier, hopefully at the January 2012 Sundance Film
Festival, of a documentary that features the Abigail Alliance and the
issues we have been and continue to bring to the fore. The film is
being produced and directed by two time Oscar winner Barbara Kopple of
Cabin Creek Films.

In January of this year we learned that California billionaire
entrepreneur Alfred Mann (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_E._Mann )and the new organization
Break Through Cancer Coalition (See attachment.) are the financial
backers of the film. Alfred Woods daughter Carla Mann Woods
(http://www.mannfbe.org/about/management.htm ) heads the new group
Break Through Cancer Coalition and is married to actor and producer
Eric Woods (http://www.linkedin.com/pub/eric-woods/20/575/518 ).

Break Through Cancer Coalition is raising money to promote the
documentary, to bring national attention to problems that are blocking
better access to promising new therapies, and to promote legislation.
Carla is also working on getting friends in Hollywood CA to help bring
visibility to the effort.

The Abigail Alliance and Break Through Cancer Coalition would like you
to join in on the early organizing of this lifesaving and life
extending effort. Our first goal is to get as many patient advocates
as possible on board and on the same page.

Thinking of you and your good work,
Frank





Abigail Alliance for Better Access to Developmental Drugs
www.abigail-alliance.org
8881 White Orchid Place
Lorton, VA 22079
703-646-5306

COMPASSIONATE ACCESS ACT: The Abigail Alliance along with others is in
the process of very significantly reinvigorating the Compassionate
Access Act in the U.S. Congress.

DOCUMENTARY: Sometime mid to late this year a documentary featuring
the Abigail Alliance will be coming out!

ALSO, the Abigail Alliance has a VERY tight budget, so your help
KEEPS US GOING.