http://youtube.com/watch?v=6Q0uQAL_YDA

Video of Care To Live member Ted Girgus taken at our nationwide protest in Seattle. Ted has stage IV prostate cancer, that has metastacized to his bones. Ted and his doctor, want him on Provenge NOW!

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Here is a Video of the 2007 Rally

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqAx7uZAS90

MAY 30, 2008 NATIONWIDE PROSTATE CANCER PROTEST

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20% of 42,000 Lives = 8,400 Lives & Counting

Money is very important to most people yet nobody can measure how many dollars one life is worth. There is no amount of money, no matter how much, that is worth trading for one single life. If one life is so very valuable to one family, then how much are 8,400 lives worth?

Ever since the FDA delayed getting Provenge to men with late stage prostate cancer over 42,000 men have died. If they were on Provenge since May 2007, at least 20% would still be alive. That is over 8,400 men that would have benefited.

In other words the FDA would have approved Provenge if it saved 9,240 people, but because it only saved 8,400 people’s lives, they won’t let us have it. The bureacracy must be using artificial intelligence to come up with their faulty conclusion to delay. The FDA already told us the agency is too broken to keep up with the science.

There are currently 90,000 to 100,000 men with Androgen Independent Prostate Cancer (AIPC), or are hormone refractory. That’s 18,000 to 20,000 people. AT LEAST THEY COULD BE SAVED, according to interim data just released. Keep in mind that the final data will even be more impressive.

CareToLive has again written to Dr. Jesse Goodman, the Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). CareToLive sent Dr. Goodman a Citizens Petition on July 27, 2007, to reconsider the denial of a license for Provenge, an immunotherapy treatment for men with late stage prostate cancer. The petition was sent to the FDA over a year ago and as per Federal Regulation CareToLive should have received an answer within 180 days after receipt. We are still waiting.

Additional data for Provenge has recently been evaluated and has shown what we at CareToLive have been saying all along. Provenge is safe and Provenge shows a survival benefit. An outside firm has just confirmed that 20% of the men in the Provenge trials survived over placebo, due to the Provenge treatment. It is time for the FDA to grant approval, even if only conditional while more data is gathered, so that men with late stage prostate cancer can begin receiving Provenge NOW!

Link to CareToLive’s Citizen’s Petition http://caretolive.com/caretolivepetition.pdf

Here is the letter CareToLive sent to Dr. Jesse Goodman:

Jesse L. Goodman, M.D., M.P.H.
Director
Food and Drug Administration
Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research
1401 Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852-1448

Re: Docket No. 2007P-0297/CP1

Dear Dr. Goodman,

I am requesting that the FDA reconsider our CareToLive Citizens Petition docket number 2007P-0297/CP1 filed in July 2007, concerning the FDA delay of Provenge licensure for men with late stage prostate cancer. To date we have never received a proper answer and have only received one letter from you, stating that our petition is still pending. Enclosed is additional data obtained from the Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC) from the Interim look, proving that the survival is real. Provenge clearly demonstrated a 20% reduction in the risk of death in the Provenge arm relative to placebo.

My husband Mike Kearney and I both spoke to Paul Richards of the FDA Consumer Affairs CBER Department, whom your office directed us to. He is supposed to be working for Consumer Affairs but he obviously does not have the consumer in mind. Mr. Richards stated that he himself looked at the data and did not see the survival. This is shocking, seeing that even Dr. Maha Hussain, of “leaked letter” fame said at the meeting that she saw the survival. She wanted to make sure it could be attributed to Provenge. This additional IDMC data proves that the survival is indeed due to Provenge. Mr. Richards refused to answer our question as to whether Provenge is safe. The IDMC clearly states that Provenge is safe, and the FDA Advisory Commmitee voted unanimously that Provenge is safe, so that should not be an issue, despite Mr. Richards refusal to admit Provenge’s safety profile. Mr Richards told us that the minority panelists swayed the FDA decision to delay Provenge. Another of the minority panelists, Dr. Howard Scher, also of “leaked letter” infamy, had many undisclosed conflicts of interest, including running a competitior’s trial for prostate cancer with Novacea’s Asentar, a trial that was stopped midstream due to the high number of deaths, possibly caused by Dr. Scher’s trial design, which caused an abundance of toxicity to the poor patients enrolled.

Our Citizens Petition, which is also attached, addressed the shenanigans that took place during the FDA Provenge BLA process. The FDA correctly granted Provenge Fast Track Status and Priority Review since it is a treatment for a life threatening disease where no viable alternatives exist. Regardless of what took place in the past, in light of the corroborating scientific evidence seen at the Interim, it is time to to reconsider our Petition concerning the denial of a license for Provenge for men with late stage prostate cancer.

To date, over 42,000 men have died without the benefit of Provenge. A 20% improvement in survival means that more than 8000 of them might still be alive if given the right to fight for their lives. It is a travesty that the FDA, which is sworn to protect the public health, has instead ignored these men in their battle with prostate cancer.

The FDA can fix this by allowing the 96,000 men who are eligible for Provenge right now, the chance to fight for their lives. Please restore the American people’s faith in the FDA, and in light of the new data, honor that Fast Track Status and Priority Review. Please reconsider the CareToLive Citizens Petition to reconsider the denial of a license for Provenge. This is an emergency!

Thank you for your immediate consideration of this matter.

Very Respectfully,

Rory & Mike Kearney
CareToLive,
a not for profit corporation

Cc: Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305)
Paul Richards, FDA Consumer Affairs
Lanessa Hill, FDA Consumer Affairs
Stephen Ripley, FDA Consumer Affairs

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Please join us for our Nationwide Protest of the FDA On May 30th. See details here ctlnatlprotest9.pdf and also visit our rally page for additional details http://caretolive.com/rally/ .

Video of the 2007 Rally at the FDA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqAx7uZAS90

We are protesting the terrible decision to deny Ted Girgus and thousands of other men like him with end stage prostate cancer ted-girgus-ad1a.pdf

Ted’s Doctor wants Ted on Provenge NOW!

1 in 6 men get prostate cancer. 27,000 American men die from it every years. Provenge is an immunotherapy that harnesses the bodies healthy cells and retrains them to target the cancer.

On May 28, 2007, in an unprecedented and horrendous decision, the FDA decided to delay treatment to these men.We would like to take a few moments to remember two of our CareToLive members who have passed away since the FDA turned its back on the men without explanation or cause.

We tried to get Congress to hold hearings over the shenanigans that went on at the FDA that day, including conflicts of interest with competing drugs, “leaked letters” and the corruption that took place at the dysfunctional FDA.

Congressman John Dingell (Michigan) and Frank Pallone (New Jersey) decided against a Congressional hearing for all the wrong reasons. You can read their response to those calling for hearings.

They prefer to leave these men seeking Provenge in FDA purgatory. It is over a year since denial of Provenge licensure but the FDA claims the decision is not final, it is just a delay. Congress says they won’t hold hearings because the decision is still pending. Tell that to our Ted Girgus. 2/13/08.

Here is Dingell and Pallone’s passing the buck. micha001.pdfThree Congressmen, Mike Michaud (D) of Maine, Dan Burton (R) of Indiana, and Tim Ryan (D) of Ohio called for a congressional hearing into the conflicts of interest and what went wrong at the FDA causing the delay of Provenge. (click this link) Read the Congressional Letter calling for a Hearing 12/13/07.

It is over a year and so many of our members, like Ted Girgus, who is desperately seeking Provenge, could be on Provenge NOW, getting the benefits that people like Eduardo Garcia and Bruce Tower received, two men who participated in the Provenge trials and are both still around to tell.

Come on Congress. Come on FDA. Do the right thing. APPROVE PROVENGE NOW!

Support the ACCESS ACT CareToLive Member Stephen Study’s son writes about the passing of his fatherwho was never given the chance to receive Provenge“I’ll Never forgive the FDA for what they did to Dad” (click to read)part IIhttp://caretolive.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/caretoliverockvillegazette4ad-part-2web.pdf

Also please support the ACCESS ACT! http://www.pharmalot.com/2008/05/a-bill-for-experimental-meds-for-terminally-ill/

Popularity: 38%

It is over 7 months since the FDA denied the Provenge Biologics License Application for Prostate Cancer. Last week John Fish, suffering from late stage prostate cancer, was admitted to a hospice without ever having been given the opportunity to receive this immunotherapy to try to strengthen his body to fight for his life. John has however, joined with CareToLive and hopefully although it may be too late for him, he and his wife Marlilyn have courageously stood toe to toe with us, along with many of our other members with prostate cancer, to try to make this treatment available for the rest of the 30,000 men who will surely die this year without it.

Finally! Thanks to the efforts of CareToLive, a non profit, led by attorney Kerry Donahue, and Scott Riccio of ARightToLive, and the many, many members and supporters of CareToLive and Provenge, an immunotherapy voted overwhelmingly safe and effective by an FDA panel of experts to approve this treatment for prostate cancer, and then denied without adequate explanation by the FDA, three of our congressmen, Mike Michaud of Maine, Dan Burton of Indiana, and Tim Ryan of Ohio are asking for a congressional hearing into what happened. We must continue to be vigilant and to contact our representatives in the Congress to keep the pressure on, and to demand a congressional hearing.

CONGRESSIONAL LETTER ASKING FOR A HEARING  PDF (click here) Please fax this letter to your own congressional representatives and ask them to join this action. TIA

An Easy Way To Contact Your Elected Officials - (click here) EVERY VOICE COUNTS!

This is a grassroots movement. We need EVERYBODY’S help. See you at the hearings!

Please visit our website and read our blogs to learn about the 3 “leaked” letters and so much more, Continue Reading The FDA Said NO, CareToLive & ARightToLive say GO FISH! »

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