LANTUS Insulin now approved for PBS

Earlier in August I posted (on my old blog site) the following blog. I'm now delighted to report that LANTUS insulin has been approved for listing from 1 October 2006. I still haven't had a reply from Mr Abbott (The Federal Health Minister) to my letter - perhaps I never will. But the main thing is, the Lantus insulin IS finally approved, and we won't have to continue to pay over $100 for every vial.

"Since late last year we've been paying out over $100 a time for a small vial of insulin for my husband. For a long time he's been a 'brittle' diabetic with difficult to control blood sugar levels, but for reasons still unknown (we suspect he may have had a bad batch of insulin) he ended up with sudden very very high blood sugar readings which had him hospitalised for around three weeks.

During that time a doctor suggested his diabetes would be better controlled with an insulin called Lantus, which we'd never heard of. Our regular doctor hadn't mentioned it because we're pensioners and it wasn't on PBS. However in desperation we read more about it and were told that listing on PBS was likely to occur 'very soon', so we decided to use it.

The results have been remarkable. Hubby's blood sugar levels are much more stable with a corresponding improvement in his overall health, not suffering the side effects of wild swings, and no more hospital visits.

But now, nearly 12 months later and Lantus is still not listed on PBS. Why? How many hospital admissions could have been saved in that time if it had been more readily available for people such as my husband who have a particularly 'brittle' form of Type 1 diabetes?

In trying to find some recent news about the progress of PBS listing of Lantus, I found this transcript of interview on Sky News with Jan McLucas on 16 July 2006. Here's parts of that interview.
INTERVIEWER: You have been quite critical of the process today, how long do you think it should take for a drug like Herceptin to be passed by the PBS?JAN MCLUCAS: Well, it should be a lot faster than Mr Abbott has dealt with a range of drugs. The Lantus example is a fine one. He has had that recommendation since April the 26th and yet today on the program he gave no indication as to when it would be listed.He is right it has to go through a process and part of that process is fixing an appropriate price. But Mr Abbott has form on this. He clearly has an attitude of go slow when it comes to listing important medicines.
INTERVIEWER: Surely they have to be quite careful with the process. We know that it is very expensive as we have heard with Herceptin it will cost taxpayers as much as $400 million and there is any number of pharmaceutical companies out there with drugs to pedal. Surely we do have to be careful about how we go about deciding which drugs are added.
JAN MCLUCAS: Absolutely and we do not resile from that. There has to be a very rigorous process. But in reality, what is happening time after time with Mr Abbott in charge, is that that process is completed and then the documentation just sits on his desk and he doesn’t take it to Cabinet and therefore people for example with breast cancer or diabetes continue to miss out on important drugs that will assist them to deal with their health problems.
So, Mr Abbott our Federal Health Minister has had the recommendation since April and as of mid July it still hadn't been approved. What can be the cause of such a delay? How many taxpayer dollars have been spent on hospitalisations in that time which could have been avoided by a lesser expenditure on Lantus? To say nothing of the stress which severe illness brings to the diabetic and their families?
I sent an email about this to Mr Abbott last week (4th August). I'm curious as to if and when I'll receive a reply - and what it has to say"

Bundaberg Election 2006 - Sonja Cleary, Jack Dempsey or Greg McMahon?

I've been puzzled by the recent polls which show Labor might romp it in, in the forthcoming election.

But then I reflected on our situation in Bundaberg. Just who are our choices?

There's a nurse/academic Sonja Cleary. I chatted to her once in town and heard her once on ABC radio. Somewhat inarticulate - at least on radio - and doesn't come over as a forceful individual with the passion to help Bundy and its people identify and solve current problems. The only thing I recall from chatting with her was her concern about Federal Government policies, and I personally don't want another politician (like Nita Cunningham) who hides her head in the sand about State issues and floats on the 'blame the feds' platform. Also Sonja was on the district hospital council at the time the council wrote in support of Jayant Patel. She claimed "we were as disturbed about the letter as members of the community". As a nurse wouldn't she more than anyone have the inside running on scuttlebutt from the hospital staff? And if she didn't, can Bundaberg people be convinced of her ability to keep in touch in the future?

If Sonja gets elected along with a continuing Labor government there's a danger that she'll be (or end up being) a compliant mouthpiece for Beattie and of no practical use to Bundaberg.

Our other main party choice is Jack Dempsy. Nationals candidate and Bundaberg police officer. Already failed opponent when he stood against Nita Cunningham in the last election although I believe there was a swing in his favour. He's had a very low profile in Bundaberg since then, and I was surprised the Nationals put him up again. I just googled on "jack dempsey" national party candidate bundaberg and got only 12 hits. Take out the quite good and long articles from the southern papers, the last election, and the National Party site and there's not much left to indicate a positive local profile.

I've never met him, but had cause to speak to him on the phone once and wasn't impressed. Has he got what it takes? I don't know, but he hasn't got much time left to covince the Bundaberg electorate so he'd better get active.

Also anyone contemplating voting for him has to wonder what will happen to Bundaberg if a) he wins Bundaberg but the State stays with Labor, or b) if he wins Bundaberg and the State goes to a National/Liberal coalition with leadership uncertainty.

Finally there's independent Greg McMahon. Googling on 'Greg McMahon independent candidate Bundaberg' gave me a lot of background about his work with Whistleblowers Australia which goes back a long way. He was apparently kicked out of the labor party some months ago after revealing (via National party member Rob Messenger) some questionable financial goings on in the local Labor party. His reported vitriole against the Labor party since then makes you wonder about one report which suggests he nominated (or planned to nominate) as the Labor candidate for this election.

And although it shouldn't make a lot of difference, I couldn't find out anything from the 'net about other things I'd like to know. Like how old is he? what does he look like? where does he live? What does he do for a living? The only telephone number I could find for him was in Queensland but not Bundaberg.

Many people will be tempted to vote for an independent in this election, but as well as knowing the candidates (which is proving to be difficult) the issues of the unknown impact of preferences, and the outcome if the independent should win office, are key considerations.

The voters of Bundaberg definitely have some deep thinking to do in the next couple of weeks - and the candidates had better get cracking and make meaningful information available to the electorate to help them reach a decision.

I apologise in advance if I've missed finding information on the internet or misrepresented anyones position. Like many other older people in the community I rely mainly on the 'net for information. I've given up subscribing to the local newspaper because of it's lack of coverage of major issues, and large amount of group school and sport photos which it presumably resorts to to boost sales.

If you do want to make a comment on what I've said, in support or otherwise, please go ahead. Comments aren't moderated, but if I find later that you've put up something totally offensive or obscene I'll probably hide it from pulic view.

Yet another Queensland hospital scandal

This item was on the ABC radio news this morning. I found it on the internet tonight, but I didn't hear it mentioned on either the Channel 7 or ABC news tonight.

When will it stop?

"Last Update: Monday, August 21, 2006. 10:38am (AEST)
Two Blackwater Hospital staff stood down
Queensland's health system has been rocked by another scandal, with two senior staff stood down from the Blackwater Hospital in central Queensland.
Queensland Health has confirmed the medical superintendent and the director of nursing have been stood down pending a police investigation.
There are few details on the investigation at this stage.
However, Police Media says a 46-year-old woman has been ordered to appear in court next month on one count of fraud and possession of the drug pethadine."

I've heard all the platitudes about 'always a few rotten apples in the barrell', but there's an awful lot of scum floating to the top right now.

How to find my earlier posts

I'm still getting used to this system. Bear with me and I'll post something more interesting soon.

In the meantime, If you haven't read all the interesting stuff I've already blogged, go to my old site at http://lyndasretreat.spaces.live.com/ and browse the archives which go back for more than 12 months. Also see the photo albumns which I probably won't bother to transfer across to this blogspot.

What will you find there? Well for a start there's a fair bit on politics, both Federal and Queensland, including my views on Nita Cunningham the member for Bundaberg. Also my views and personal experiences of the public health system in Queensland, in particular Bundaberg Hospital during and after the Patel era.

I've also included some stuff about religion and chartities, the issues of Choice (in abortion and voluntary euthanasia) vs. The 'Right to Life'. (You know, the mob and their philosophy who act like you've got a duty to live whether you want to or not). A small amount also on some of the issues involved in being a Carer.

Read, enjoy and come back here soon, where hopefully I'll be able to contribute some more blogs - either to just 'get it out of my system' or to provoke some thought and healthy debate/discussion among the readers.

I've set this up so that anyone can post comments, regardless of whether you a blogger or not. I don't mind alternate opinions if theyr'e not abusive or offensive, in which case I'll hide them from view.Thanks for visiting

Welcome to my new Blogspot - Lynda's Retreat

For about 18 months I've been posting fairly regular blogs on another space but recently it seems that few or none are being identified on blog searches.

Much as I dislike having to change systems, I've decided to give blogspot a try.

I've set it up so that comments can be posted by anyone, so please give it a try, and check in often to see my Rants and Raves about issues that interest me.