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Pharmac announces plan to fund cancer drugs Kadcyla and Alecensa
The national drug funding agency are proposing that by December 1 Kadcyla, for HER-2 positive metastatic breast cancer, and Alecensa for positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer will be made publicly available. A drug that treats relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis, known as Ocrevus, is also planned to be funded. They say they are seeking public feedback on the proposal to fund the three drugs by August 2019. All feedback received before the closing date will be considered by Pharmac's Board (or its delegate) prior to making the final decision on this proposal. This comes after a long-standing fight from advocacy groups and New Zealanders dying of cancer campaigning for the lives it could extend and save. Earlier this year Lung Cancer Foundation chief executive Philip Hope said five people die of the disease every day while a further six are diagnosed. It launched a petition calling for more and fairer funding from Pharmac, given the number of deaths caused by lung cancer each year. Hope said currently lung cancer drugs get $2,771,115.00 - or 2.3 per cent - of funding. More than 600 Kiwi women die each year from breast cancer, the nation's third most common form of cancer. Funding applications still pending include for Ibrutinib and Venetoclax for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia; Lenalidomide for multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer; for Lynparza and Avastin to be funded for ovarian cancer; six drugs for myeloma; Myozyme for late onset Pompe disease, a rare and fatal metabolic disorder; and medications including Keytruda, Osimertinib and Crizotinib for advanced lung cancer.
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Let's see who's the neighbourhood Einstein is!
I am a five-letter word, yet if you remove my first, third, and last letter, I still sound the same. What am I?
Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.
Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed? No worries! Simply head here and click once on the Following button.
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Poll: Is it rude to take a full trolley to self-checkout?
Luckily self-checkout is being pretty common in supermarkets these days and we generally use it to quickly buy a few things without the long lines. But perhaps it's appropriate to head there with your full trolley to skip the lines?
What are your thoughts? Is that rude?
Share in the comments below if this has ever happened to you.
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52.4% Yes!
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44.3% Nah, it's okay
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3.4% Other - I'll share below!
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Poll: Have you ever had a scary flight?
A plane flying from Christchurch to Wellington on Sunday had smoke billowing out of the engine and upon landing, passengers had to open the emergency exit and jump out. Have you had any scary flying experiences?
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54.9% Yes!
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45.1% No, it's always been smooth flying