The old song "Yes, we have no bananas" has been changed to "No, we do not have no bananas, yes we have some bananas." Bristol Myers Squibb has a monopoly on the Merck version of the Golden Standard of Parkinson's treatment. BMS returned my call (800-267-0005) today, and they said there is no shortage of sinemet in Canada.
BMS's own website still carries the public advisory sent out by Health Canada. Health Canada's website still warns of the shortage. It was broadcast on national news by CTV, Canada's largest TV network. The PD Association of Canada sent out a press release saying that going cold turkey on these drugs could cause "irreversible harm".
Apotex, the only Canadian producer of this drug for BMS, confirm to me that they have in fact shut down production of the drug.
BMS deny what they say on their own web page.
Health Canada refuses to talk and told me to call Apotex and BMS. Which I had already done.
Meanwhile the European Parkinson's Disease Association (EPDA) confirm that there will be drastic world-wide shortages for two years. Merck confirms that some markets will get full service, some markets will have reduced amounts of drugs, and some markets (countries) will have none at all.
So the triage is taking place on this, the first round of triage, at a national level. Canada has been selected to get its full dose. In Australia, every neurologist and every pharmacy has been told by individual letter from Merck that they must prepare to yank between 50% and 80% of their patients off the drug.
Which other countries will receive none at all has not yet been revealed.
Canada paid what to be on top of the list? What palm did Australia fail to grease? What type of countries - what income level - will be cut off entirely?
And then, the second round of triage, countries like Australia have to decide who should switch drugs or go off drugs and who should be given access to the newly-created short supply of the drug, as sinemet production factories belonging to different companies in different countries somehow all came to the conclusion that they should pull the plug on PWP.
I don't know which European countries are being put in Australia's category (play lifeboat - give the drugs to those who really deserve them, by criteria you do not reveal - a fun game of Russian roulette with a loaded pistol) and I don't know if the USA is going to be in the Canadian category ("what, me worry?"). And I really don't know which countries are being cut off completely. Is it by skin color, size of nostrils, or untraceable funds moving through Swiss banks? Maybe it's a video game they all play like Grand Theft Auto III, and they don't realize that Parkies actually exist in the real world.
No, no, no, it is actually not a conspiracy. They aren't bright enough to put together a conspiracy. It is just wildly extreme incompetence governed by greed and total disrespect for the laws of God, man, and nature.
Between Parkies and the Parkinson's Industry, this is the norm.. It's always been like this, so what are you whining about this time? Swallow your pill, sit in a chair, stare at the wall. Except that this time you don't get the pill.
And you thought your side effects were bad up to now!
Big Pharma is going to educate a LOT of Parkies on just how wonderful L-Dopa really is. They will have you on your knees begging for it.
But there is a "supply problem"; a little mistake in balancing supply and demand. Mathematical error perhaps, or as Apotex said, "re-organisation". Or their mule got busted at the airport. Sends the price way up.