FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 5, 2021
WASHINGTON — Patients Rising Executive Director Terry Wilcox today released the following statement regarding today’s report by the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER); the organization determined the FDA-approved aducanumab is an uneconomical treatment for patients with Alzheimer’s:
“There are 144 million Americans with chronic disease. That’s roughly one-third of the country.
By ICER standards, a person’s life is not worth it if they have a debilitating disease. Also by ICER’s standards, a life is worth saving only if the person will live their remaining days in perfect health. The sad reality is that this is not the plot of a creepy utopian-society fiction TV series.
ICER, funded by special interests, most notably by the health insurance industry, has been allowed to become the body that tells American lawmakers whether an effective disease treatment is worth the cost, and establish standards of whose life is – and isn’t – worth treating.
For those experiencing Alzheimer’s, and for those who love someone with Alzheimer’s, they have never before had hope of treating or reversing this horrific disease. For the first time ever, the FDA approval of a treatment – aducanumab – gave them hope. Only to have that hope ripped away from them by ICER.
We believe that those suffering from Alzheimer’s and their families should be allowed to try.
At Patients Rising, we believe every single life is worth saving and living, and every single person should have access to a treatment for their condition if it’s been deemed safe.
That’s why we will be charging full speed ahead on our mission to make sure everyone in Washington, D.C. understands that an entity funded by special interests must not be the Bible on whether a patient suffering from a disease is allowed to use a treatment that has been approved by the FDA and deemed safe and effective.”
Contact:
Summer Johnson
sjohnson@riesterpublicaffairs.com
