How to contact your Congressional Representative and provide information to ask for him/her to send a letter to Congress to join with the 3 Representative who are calling for a hearing. At bottom is how to locate the phone, fax and email addresses of your Representative. This information is also on the CTL Ways To Help page.

Call your Representative and thank them for taking your call. Ask for the Health Staffer. Make sure you get their name. Remember to thank them at the end and to tell them you will follow up. It is best to contact the Health Staffer at your Representative’s Washington office for the most clout. (see below for contact info)

Tell them that Congressmen Mike Michaud (D-Maine), Dan Burton (R-Ind.) and Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) and several other Congressmen sent a letter to Congressman John Dingell requesting hearings to look into the role that conflicts of interest played in the FDA determination not to approve a safe and effective late stage prostate cancer treatment.

Tell them CaretoLive (direct them to the CareToLive website http://www.caretolive.com), are joined by A Right To Live http://ARightToLive.com, the Cancer Cure Coalition, Ustoo, Abigail Alliance, Prostate Health education network (PHEN) and others in support of the hearings.

Go to CareToLive website Ways To Help
http://caretolive.com/ways-to-help/

CONGRESSIONAL LETTER ASKING FOR A HEARING
http://caretolive.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/
congressional-hearing-letter1.pdf

Fax, email or snail mail the letter to your own Congressional Representative and ask them to join this action. Here are other documents you may send or compile your own list. There are additional articles on the Articles page and the Research page and About Us page etc.
Articles Page http://caretolive.com/articles
Research Page http://caretolive.com/research
About Us Page http://caretolive.com/about-us

Nature Biotechnology The regulator disapproves
http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v26/n1/full/nbt0108-1.html

THE ROAD TO PROVENGE APPROVAL by Thomas A. Farrington President and Founder PHEN Prostate Health Education Network
http://www.prostatehealthed.org/phen_Detail.php?News=673

Petition for the FDA to Reconsider the Failure to Approve Provenge filed 7/27/07 Docket # 2007P-0297
http://caretolive.com/caretolivepetition.pdf

Robbing Cancer Patients of Hope by Dr. Chuck Bennett 1/26/ 2007
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/dec/26/na-robbing-cancer-patients-of-hope/
?news-opinion-commentary

Three Lawmakers Give Terminal Cancer Patients Early Xmas Gift by Evelyn Pringle’s
http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/articles/01723/provenge-fda.html

Flowchart showing The FDA Decision on Provenge: Who’s Who and Who’s Connected
http://caretolive.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/players_provenge_v2.pdf

FAQS

Tell them you are an advocate for late stage prostate cancer.

30,000 American men will die of prostate cancer this year. Since the delay over 8 months ago, more than 22,000 men have died without the option of Provenge.

1 in every 6 men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime.

Each year over 218,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer.

96,000 men will progress to late stage or Androgen Independent prostate cancer (AIPC).

Only one drug has been approved which showed some survival benefits in the treatment of late stage androgen independent prostate cancer in over 42 years ago. It is so toxic and disruptive that most men refuse it.

The Dendreon Corporation has created a treatment called Provenge, an immunotherapy, that has shown it increases survival. The FDA saw the survival, granted Provenge Fast-Track Status, and then called together a panel of 17 experts to advise them on whether Provenge should be approved. The panel did indeed advise them.

By a vote of 17-0 the panel told them that Provenge is safe. By a vote of 13-4 the panel told them that Provenge shows substantial evidence of efficacy. The FDA decided to go against the panel of experts and delayed approval, an unprecedented act given that there are no viable alternatives in a treatment that was voted so overwhelmingly positive which showed survival benefits.
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HOW TO FIND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE

Contact Your Elected Officials

by Zip Code: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/index.html
by State: http://www.conservativeusa.org/mega-cong.htm

This page will have all of your Congressman’s contact info including his Washington office. Type in their name and then scroll down for contact info.
http://www.congresspedia.com

Call your Rep and ask for their Congressional Health Staffer.

Follow with emails and faxes.

If you can visit their office.

Ask them to join this action requesting a Congressional Hearing. Speak to the health staffer. Don’t take silence for an answer. Be persistent until your Representative commits to support this action. Ask for a reply. If not, WHY NOT! Keep at it. They work for you. We pay their salaries. Sometimes it takes 2, 3 for 4 emails, faxes, calls.

If this does not work contact your Representatives Chief of Staff. Copy the Chief of Staff on a follow up email to the staffer. To find the email address of the Chief of Staff, go to this website

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home
After clicking on your Representatives name, click on staff members below your rep’s picture. The screen will have the Chief of staff’s name listed.

To email him/her enter:
name dot last name@mail.house.gov.
Example: Denzel.Washington@mail.house.gov

If all else fails email me, rk@CareToLive.com with your name, your Reps name, their Health Staffers name and their phone number and we will contact them to try to get them on board.

EVERYBODY PLEASE MAKE A NOISE!!

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Click and send an online form to Representative Dingell, Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce in charge of the Committe on Health asking them to hold hearings.
http://energycommerce.house.gov/membios/contact_form.shtml

Here are the members of the Subcommittee on Health that would take up the investigation. Frank Pallone is Chairman.
You may also fax them at 202-225-2525.
http://energycommerce.house.gov/Subcommittees/health.shtml

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Here is our Citizens’ Petition with the FDA for them to Reconsider the Failure to Approve Provenge filed 7/27/07
http://caretolive.com/caretolivepetition.pdf

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Become A CareToLive Member
http://caretolive.com/join-us/

Donate to the cause!

http://caretolive.com/donations/

Thanks For Your Help!

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Biotechnology Nature — Pressure is mounting on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to explain its decision to ignore an advisory committee’s positive recommendation for the cancer vaccine Provenge. (click this link for full article) Below is an excerpt.

In the coming weeks, it looks increasingly likely that the US Congress will launch an investigation into the circumstances behind the FDA’s decision last May to delay approval of Provenge, a recombinant therapeutic vaccine developed by Dendreon for use in terminally ill patients with androgen-independent prostate cancer. Cancer patients have been exasperated by the agency’s decision to ignore an advisory committee recommendation made in March, which gave the green light for full approval. The flip-flop came following the panel meeting, after FDA received three letters sharply critical of Provenge’s safety and efficacy, which were subsequently leaked to the press. With allegations of ‘dirty tricks’ by agency officials and undisclosed, potentially damaging corporate ties associated with at least one of the letter writers, the onus is now on the FDA to affirm the legitimacy and impartiality of its regulatory process.

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Congressmen Mike Michaud (D-Maine), Dan Burton (R-Ind.) and Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) are calling 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. Please fax your own Congressional Representative the letter and the Biotechnology Nature article, etc. and ask them to send a letter to Congress saying that they want to join in this action. Do not take no for an answer. It may require several phone calls, emails etc to your Representative. Ask to speak with the health staffer. Do not give up. Tens of thousands of lives hang in the balance each year until Provenge is approved.

Please contact us if you need further assistance, rk@CareToLive.com . We would like to see immunotherapy, whereby the immune system is strengthened to fight off the cancer cells, rather than the current system of killing our healthy cells along with our cancer cells indiscriminately, sometimes killing us during the process, one day be made available for breast, colon, lung cancer etc. We are tired of the chemo cartel’s stronghold on our cancer treatments. We want immunotherapy choices like Provenge, which has gone through extensive trials, and proved to be safe and effective and as well as prolonging life along with improving the quality of our lives, when there are no viable options. The FDA delay was unprecedented. CareToLive attorney Kerry Donahue is currently suing the dysfunctional FDA on our behalf to try to make this treatment available to the men who need it now.

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

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

Contact Your Elected Officials - Click Here

This link will take you right to a page to send a form to the committee

Here are the members of the subcommittee that would take up the investigation.
Please use this link to email them.
You may also fax them at 202-225-2525.

Please fax the Congressional Hearing letter to your own Congressional Representatives along with the Biotechnology Nature article (use link at top of blog) and ask them to join the action to call for a hearing into what went wrong with the safe and effective immunotherapy Provenge approval process at the FDA. Over 20,000 men have died without the benefit of Provenge since the delay. Tell them you want a full inquiry into the undisclosed conflicts of interest of the 2 panelists that “leaked” letters used to derail Provenge. How did these two “doctors” offset the 17 to 0 vote on safety and the 13 to 4 substantial evidence of efficacy vote. The FDA works for us and not the other way around. We Want Provenge approved and We Want It NOW! WE WANT ANSWERS! Here is the letter in full. Continue Reading FDA Under Pressure From Congress To Explain Provenge Delay »

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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! »

Popularity: 41%