Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Tuesday, 22 September 2015

The European Union Times


Posted: 21 Sep 2015 05:20 AM PDT

The medical community is outraged by a 5,500 percent price hike for Daraprim, after a big NY-based pharmaceutical company purchased the patent for it. The drug has been on the market for over 60 years, and can be essential to certain AIDS and cancer treatments.
The New York-based Turing Pharmaceuticals raised the price of Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 per pill in just over a month after buying the rights for the drug from Impax Laboratories.
The drug is used to treat toxoplasmosis, the second most common food-borne disease that affects patients suffering from AIDS and cancer. It has been produced since 1953 and is on the WHO List of Essential Medicines. But now medical associations are beating their drums about the sudden price hike and potential affordability of Daraprim as a treatment.
In an open letter to Turing, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA), have asked the company to reconsider the new price.
“This cost is unjustifiable for the medically vulnerable patient population in need of this medication and unsustainable for the health care system,” IDSA and HIVMA said.
Both NGOs say that treating toxoplasmosis, which can affect the brain, potentially leading to blindness and brain damage, is simply not cost effective.
“Under the current pricing structure, it is estimated that the annual cost of treatment for toxoplasmosis, for the pyrimethamine component alone, will be $336,000 for patients who weigh less than 60kg and $634,500 for patients who weigh more than 60kg,” the NGOs wrote.
About 60 million people in the United States may carry toxoplasmosis, a life threatening disease transmitted by eating under-cooked meat, drinking unclean water, and being in contact with infected cat feces. But not all patients in the US have medical insurance that can compensate for the cost of the drug, especially young mothers who can pass on the decease to their child.
“What we’re seeing is that this is going to disproportionately impact individuals who may not have insurance … [and] may be more likely to have other barriers to health care, including transportation, poverty and stigma,” Wendy S. Armstrong, vice chair of HIVMA, told Infectious Disease News.
People whose insurance plans require a 20 percent co-payment of the cost would be required to cough up $150 a pill.
Explaining the price rise to USA Today, Martin Shkreli, the founder and chief executive of Turing, said the company needed to raise tariffs in order to fund its research work on toxoplasmosis, along with new education programs about the disease.
“This isn’t the greedy drug company trying to gouge patients, it is us trying to stay in business,” Shkreli said, adding that many patients use the drug for less than a year. “This is still one of the smallest pharmaceutical products in the world,” he said.
Shkreli also said that Daraprim will have little impact on the US health care system as it is so rarely used. “It really doesn’t make sense to get any criticism for this,” he stressed.
However, according to IDSA and HIVMA, there is an apparent shortage in supplies of the drug.
“The supply issues have been very significant for us,” Armstrong said. “We’ve been, frankly, unable to get the drug for a significant period of time.”
In response to the letter from IDSA and HIVMA, Eliseo Salinas, R&D president at Turing Pharmaceuticals said that Daraprim can always be purchased from Turing’s exclusive distributor.
“We fully understand your concerns about the cost to hospital pharmacies,” Salinas wrote in the letter obtained from IDSA/HIVMA. “The pharmaceutical pricing model is extraordinarily complex, but I believe your estimate of treatment costs cannot be generalized.”
As far as the pricing goes, Craig Rothenberg, chief communication officer of Turing Pharmaceuticals, told Infectious Disease News, that the company has devised a scheme to aid toxoplasmosis patients in financial need. The company claims to have launched a co-pay assistance program and the “extension of a system that provides the treatment to uninsured patients in financial need.”
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Posted: 21 Sep 2015 05:09 AM PDT

Hungary declared that the first row of barbwire on four-meter high columns at the Hungarian-Croatian border was completed.
Hungary is strengthening its border wall with Croatia, near the village of Beremend, with several rows of barbed wire, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported from the scene Monday.
On Sunday, Hungary declared that the first row of barbwire on four-meter high columns at the Hungarian-Croatian border was completed.
According to a RIA Novosti correspondent, a “second line” of the wall is being constructed near the villages of Olden, Beremend and Illocska, where many refugees cross.
A new Hungarian border and refugee law came into force on September 15. Under the law, border control procedure and punishments for violation have been significantly strengthened.
Hungary is being used as a gateway to wealthier EU countries by hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants fleeing to Europe seeking escape from violence and poverty in their home countries.
Over 500,000 migrants have entered the European Union since the beginning of 2015, according to the European Commission.
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Posted: 21 Sep 2015 04:55 AM PDT


Pope Francis departed for Cuba Sept. 19 on the Alitalia Airbus A330-200 christened Raffaello Sanzio at 10:35am from Fiumicino Airport.
The Jesuit legacy is strong in Cuba. Father Antonio Llorente, a friend of the late Pope Bergoglio who died in 2010, was actually Fidel Castro’s teacher and spiritual adviser at the prestigious Jesuit preparatory school Colegio de Belén in Havana, which was also frequented by his brother Raúl Castro, Cuba’s current leader.
A few years back, when Fidel retired because of health problems, Raul gradually took over as President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba, and later Commander and First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC).
Raul was literally brought up by the Jesuits attending the Jesuit School of Colegio Dolores in Santiago, and later the Colegio Belén mentioned above, before becoming a full-time communist engaged in numerous intelligence operations with the Soviet Union.
The role the Jesuits play in the formation of Raul and their ties to the mysterious and powerful Company of Jesus which helped craft communism is extremely clear.
Also to consider is the recent role of the Vatican Jesuits in re-establishing Cuba’s relations with the US.
Jim Yardley writes in the New York Times:
The rapprochement between the U.S. and Cuba was facilitated by Argentine-born Pope Francis, who allowed the Vatican to be used for secret negotiations. There were simultaneous public announcements by Castro and Obama about the progress toward normalization.
Who are the Jesuits and who is Pope Francis, really?
The propaganda machine is already in motion and the media announced that Obama and Raul had a phone conversation in the last few hours declaring how essential Pope Francis is in helping these two countries unite in friendship once again.
The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Parolin, stated that “the role of the Pope was determinant because it was he who decided to write to the two presidents to find a way to overcome the present difficulties.”
That is why Cuba and the U.S. decided to re-establish their diplomatic relations to coincide with the birthday of Pope Francis last December.
After meeting Pope Francis in Vatican City on May 10, Raul Castro not only said that he is considering returning to the Roman Catholic Church, but he even stated in a televised news conference, “I read all the speeches of the Pope, his commentaries, and if the Pope continues this way, I will go back to praying and go back to the church. I am not joking.”
Adding that on the occasion that the Pope arrives, “I promise to go to all his Masses and with satisfaction.”
Pope Francis is the third Pope to visit the Caribbean island, before him John Paul II (January 1998) and Benedict XVI (March 2012). The motto chosen for the current visit is “Misionero de la Misericordia,” referring to the Jubilee of Mercy to take place from December, 2015.
This is the time Rome will be invaded by millions of pilgrims and ISIS may attempt to let hell loose with their planned “X Hour” for the attack on Rome.
Barack Obama and Raul Castro’s mondialist leftist agenda is guided and supervised by the first Jesuit Pope in history to help the Cubans embrace the New World Order with enthusiam, in time rejecting the close ties established during the Cold War with the Russian Federation, something they may regret in years to come.
In the meantime the Vatican is facilitating the chaos in Europe, thanks to the constant support for immigration given by Pope Francis and the Vatican.
Just before departing for Cuba, the Vatican pulled another propaganda stunt, airing a Pope Francis meeting in Rome with a Syrian family they are hosting in the Vatican at the Sant’Anna Church.
One of the two privileged families the Vatican recently announced they will host within their small territory to demonstrate to the world how much they “care.”
But do they really care?
In the last few years the Catholic Church has demonstrated that their only interest for immigrants and refugees in difficulty in Italy and other European countries is of an economic nature.
The Vatican and many Catholic organizations simply build and control refugee centers as a way to generate money taken from the European Union and other institutions connected with the immigrant crisis.
The Italian press reported that in some unfortunate cases members of the clergy abused immigrants, treating them as slaves or even worse, as sexual toys for their perversions.
Since Feb. 2014 the Holy See has been put under extreme pressure by the United Nations in regards to the many crimes against minors committed by the clergy worldwide.
The UN report by Kirsten Sandberg, who chairs the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, announced:
“The committee is gravely concerned that the Holy See has not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed, has not taken the necessary measures to address cases of child sexual abuse to protect children, and has adopted policies and practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse by, and the impunity of, the perpetrators.”
Regardless of the concern aired by the UN Commitee member, on the morning up Sept. 25, 2015, for the first time in history due to a last minute law the UN passed on Sept. 10, the Vatican Flag will be raised on the United Nations building in Pope Francis’ honor.
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Posted: 21 Sep 2015 04:40 AM PDT


Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson has triggered a massive public backlash by openly declaring that he would not endorse a Muslim as President of the United States, as he claims that Islam is not compatible with the US constitution.
Speaking to NBC News’ ‘Meet the Press’ Carson said that he would “not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that.”
The reason for the retired brain surgeon’s views, he claims is the fact that some faiths are not aligned with the US constitution.
“I guess it depends on what that faith is. If it’s inconsistent with the values and principles of America, then of course it should matter. But if it fits within the realm of America and consistent with the constitution, no problem,” Carson said.
The comments sparked an outrage among the Muslim community in the United States with the country’s largest Muslim civil rights group condemning the politician’s reasoning.
“It’s beyond the pale and he should withdraw,” said Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) spokesman Ibrahim Hooper.
“This disqualifies him from being a president,”CAIR director Nihad Awad said. “My advice to GOP presidential candidates: Read the US constitution if you haven’t yet! It keeps America great.”
Politicians meanwhile spoke out against any infringement on rights and freedoms.
“Every American should be disturbed that these national figures are engaging in and tolerating blatant acts of religious bigotry,” the first Muslim elected to Congress, Representative Keith Ellison said. “It’s unimaginable that the leading GOP presidential candidates are resorting to fear mongering to benefit their campaigns.”
Democratic presidential hopeful, Senator Bernie Sander said he was “disappointed” in Carson. “It took us too long to overcome the prejudice against electing a Catholic or an African-American president. People should be elected to office based on their ideas, not their religion or the color of their skin,” Sanders said.
Democratic Representative, Debbie Wasserman Schultz meanwhile called for an apology from Carson.
“Of course a Muslim, or any other American citizen, can run for president, end of story. To think otherwise is not only harmful to our political process, but it elevates and validates discrimination in this country,” she said.
Even Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, another presidential candidate, spoke out against Carson’s comments, also calling for an apology.
“I think Dr. Carson needs to apologize,” Graham said, adding the comments were particularly offensive to American soldiers who are Muslim.
Despite pressure on Dr. Carson to apologize for not wanting Islam to take over American leadership, he has stood firm by his position and refused to apologize.
In response to criticism, Carson’s campaign office said that they support religious freedom, and tried to explain that Carson just “believes that the American people are far from ready to accept a Muslim as President in our Judeo-Christian society.”
“Without question, there are complex differences between the practice of the Muslim faith and our Constitution, differences that are very real and very much in conflict with one another,” spokesman Doug Watts said.
Watts stressed that Carson did not say that a Muslim should be prevented from running in the Presidential race, adding that Carson has “great respect” for the Muslim community.
According to the latest national CNN/ORC poll, Donald Trump is the Republican party’s front-runner with 24 percent support. Carly Fiorina ranks second with 15 percent support just ahead of Ben Carson, who has one percentage point less.
Odd statements about the divisive issues of faith and race have been making headlines among Republican Presidential hopefuls.
Donald Trump let pass unchallenged anti-Muslim comments made by a supporter asserting that US President Barack Obama was a Muslim. Trump later said he was not “morally obligated” to defend Obama against the man’s unfounded claim.
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Posted: 21 Sep 2015 04:20 AM PDT

Chancellor Angela Merkel tried to give a speech to Germans, but all the way through, ordinary German folk were booing her and calling her “traitor”.
Despite this protest and the protests in Eastern Europe, the German government said it plans to force Eastern Europe to open its borders to the hoards of millions of Muslim invaders.
Over the space of a few months, the country has turned into a neo-Communist dictatorship, where common people are being ignored, and having their voices silenced.
If this European genocide agenda was directed at any other group other than European people, people like her would be going straight to jail.
But as you can see in this video, the Germans have arisen from their slumber, and are now defending themselves from dictators and despots.
        
Posted by Roberto Abraham Scaruffi at 14:25