Either die from the disease or the expensive medicine
By youless
@youless (112123)
Guangzhou, China
November 12, 2018 1:57am CST
Lately I watched a movie about the patients who had to buy smuggled medicines to maintain their lives because the original medicine is crazy expensive. Some medicine can be really expensive and it is sad that many can't afford to it and they have to wait for dying.
Such as the medicine called Glivec in this movie. The medicine fee can cost $6000 a month. Whereas the Indian Glivec costs about $500 a month. So many patients will go to India to buy this medicine.
I think in this world there are still many people who can not afford to expensive medicine and then die painfully. I can only hope that everybody stays healthy and never have deadly serious disease.
17 people like this
16 responses
@youless (112123)
• Guangzhou, China
14 Nov 18
@LadyDuck It is a very tough decision for the family. I can fully understand it. This is why I always think it is so wrong for others who blame the one gives up treatment for his/her family member because such kind of situation. It is already so sad for them to make such a decision, all we can do is to comfort them. We have no rights to blame it. Unless we can pay for it, or we should shut up.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (458230)
• Switzerland
14 Nov 18
@youless Even if you can pay for something, or if it's covered my your health insurance, the difficult is to decide if to keep alive someone who suffers and has no chances to recover. Believe me that this is the most difficult decision of your life, I know because I had to decide for my mother, my brother and I had to decide.
1 person likes this
@louievill (28851)
• Philippines
12 Nov 18
That is why we need to learn alternatives like Traditional Chinese medicine ( TCM), acupuncture,
ayurvedic techniques and the like, I feel that the pharmaceutical industry has become one big syndicate, they will give you expensive maintenance medicine that you need to take for life and with lots of side effects rather than cure the ailment and or make the body strong so it can fight the disease by itself.
2 people like this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16533)
• China
12 Nov 18
@indexer Glivec isn't traditional Chinese medicine but western medicine.Here those medicines you mentioned are banned ,Now use the substitutes.
2 people like this
@indexer (4852)
• Leicester, England
12 Nov 18
Unfortunately, some traditional Chinese medicines are derived from the body parts of threatened species, such as rhinos and elephants. The fact that these medicines are expensive is the reason why some people are making fortunes from killing the animals and smuggling the horns and tusks back to China.
It is not even as though these medicines work - they don't work any better than placebos, but are having a devastating effect on populations of rare species.
5 people like this
@indexer (4852)
• Leicester, England
12 Nov 18
@louievill I did say "some" in my previous comment, not "all" or "mostly".
There is certainly much to be learned from traditional plant-based remedies, and I entirely agree with what you say here.
I am, however, also convinced that the placebo effect is real, and it is what is often at work in practices such as homeopathic medicine, which is a complete con trick in terms of actual medicinal benefit. People gain benefit from it because of their mental attitude and nothing else.
It is, however, a huge scandal that many western pharma companies are money-making enterprises that do not not test or report their work fairly.
2 people like this
@allknowing (130064)
• India
12 Nov 18
It is ridiculous that science comes up with something that an ordinary human being has
no access to
no access to1 person likes this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16533)
• China
12 Nov 18
I haven't watched the film so far,just know some plots of it.The reason why Glivec is at that price is that it belongs to a proprietary medicine over here.
1 person likes this
@youless (112123)
• Guangzhou, China
13 Nov 18
@changjiangzhibin89 In fact there are many medicine that are still quite expensive. The treatment, operation, checking-up etc. charges are expensive.
1 person likes this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16533)
• China
13 Nov 18
@youless I read that the prices of anticancer medicines will be drastically reduced in our country.The problem is that there are not that many effective anticancer medicines now.
1 person likes this
@andriaperry (116860)
• Anniston, Alabama
13 Nov 18
That is the way the rich do things.
1 person likes this
@septabchips (1142)
• Nigeria
13 Nov 18
You are absolutely right. The best bet is to stay healthy and never have the cause to buy expensive medicine to stay alive.
1 person likes this
@septabchips (1142)
• Nigeria
13 Nov 18
@youless Oh yes. You are right. Are you close to someone who is a medical practitioner?
1 person likes this
@indexer (4852)
• Leicester, England
12 Nov 18
I think it is criminal that people have to pay upfront for medicines at all. In the UK you can get everything you need free of charge, thanks to our wonderful National Health Service. OK - it is funded from taxation, but that means that wealthy people pay more than poor people, which is only right and proper.
1 person likes this
