Hi Fiona, CS, Paula and all,
I am glad that this case HAS this result, I have been watching the Mirapex story closely for a while, as I know someone over here in the UK whose life was very adversely affected by this drug, and whose family also suffered too. As someone 'looking in' it seems obvious that no matter where in the world you are the stranglehold of the pharma companies is great for shareholders, but not for those people on the ground with real diseases and conditions, and that includes people in the US, so when these kinds of discussions have come up I have sat on my hands and mostly watched them happen, because nothing that people in my part of the world say can affect anything in the slightest.

I have strong feelings about this having worked for a WHO gynae doctor trialling contraceptive implants in the third world. The way things operated there was nothing short of shameful, the women were very uneducated, often with very poor health, and were neither offered nor would have been able to comprehend precautionary documentation, and I completely balked when I was expected to type up reports that filled in information for the pharma co, that were blatant falsity with the knowledge of the company local reps. I quit the job in disgust, but would have been fired otherwise for refusing to do what was asked......... it was not that the drugs were bad, that was not my judgement call, it was the way that it was all administered, the half-soaked and negligent snake-oil way things were done.

It seems to me that Mirapex is just another such drug, among the many, which are thrown at the patient as being useful, and once prescribed is wholly inadequately followed up, mainly because of medical and patient ignorance, brought about by misinformation that is controlled by the pharmas. Where is screening for suitability, proper followup, safeguards for the patient, etc. I am sure that for many Mirapex is useful, and a good tool in the armoury against PD, just like the contraceptives could be for women broken down by multiple pregnancies. But for a very significant minority of people the side-effects are unsustainable and everything says, over and over again, in so many cases against these companies, that THEY KNEW THE SIDE EFFECTS and failed to keep people informed, or deliberately withheld information in their scramble to make big bucks. It simply is not true that such cases will scare off the investors in research, to my mind it only redresses the balance a tiny amount. That is how it is presented so that FEAR decides things over good thinking and rationality.

For every successful case there are hundreds, maybe thousands in the US who will never be compensated for their suffering, and for every class action in the States there are thousands upon thousands of people worldwide who neither have the resource or the empowerment to even complain......and then there are those who never even get near ANY treatment, because medicine is so beyond their means.............. the overinflated prices of drugs, the poor production methods in unregulated countries, all this is wrong, millions of people know this, why should these companies be protected from their own fallibility, why should they not be held to account for their greed...... it is the successful cases like this that signal that things need to change.

I have been following some of the recent posts that express frustration with things like fragmented representation for people with PD, and the way that resources are not used well; some of the other discussions around PD communities and needs too, aren't these the things that should be right up there at the top of the agenda, and isn't the reason why they are not because of this culture of money only flowing one way.......

There does need to be a new ethical paradigm within the pharmaceutical and medical world, things need so much to change. I do not think that the big pharmas with their emphasis on profit should be in control of the health of people worldwide, the question is not who should be in control, but how can it be wrested from the profiteers and put in the hands of people who believe in being responsible to the end users of their products. Ultimately that will only happen when there is more pressure put on them, not less, if it hits them in their pockets then they will have to change. In the meantime we need to shout louder...............

Lindy