From the Los Angeles Times:

After fast-tracking the end-stage cancer medication Provenge, the federal Food and Drug Administration changed its mind. The turnaround outraged many men with prostate cancer, and motivated patient advocacy groups to stage rallies against the FDA. Activists also called for greater access to experimental drugs.

Some activists say the events could mark the beginning of a new era of patient advocacy. Others are dismayed by the occasional ugliness of the debate, which included death threats against two members of FDA advisory panels.

“This has really kick-started the prostate cancer community and given us some motivation and focus,” says Jan Manarite, a Raise a Voice volunteer and Florida educational facilitator with the Prostate Cancer Research Institute, or PCRI, a nonprofit education and research organization on prostate cancer. “I think we’re finally learning about advocacy. I hope this experience helps us learn how to work effectively with the FDA.”

This entry was posted on Monday, December 31st, 2007 at 10:45 am and is filed under advocacy, cancer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.