Dr. Thompson's Blog

The Terrible High Price of American Drugs

I just read an article about EpiPen, which can save a person's life. It now costs $700 for each syringe. A good friend's son died because he did not have an EpiPen with him when he ate something that contained an allergen he was allergic to. His father was a doctor, so he could afford the terrible price of the drug but the young man did not realize he should always carry an EpiPen. I am not sure his father ever recovered from the loss of his son. But just think if you could not afford a $700 EpiPen when a child of yours was highly allergic. The woman who is head of the company that makes these EpiPen's should be brought up before Congress and her company should be closed or they should pay a high fee.

I do not understand how CEOs of company like Roche that makes the life-saving drug for children with spinal atrophy can look in the mirror each day. I have tried repeatedly to get some help for one family with two children with this disorder but it has been to no avail. As long as the CEOs have their several houses, their expensive toys, and vacations, I think they really don't care about the people who cannot afford their expensive drugs. The rest of the world  that has health care for all and free medicine must look at us in dismay. 

Thoughts about the election for California's Governor

I try to stay away from political topics on this Blog and instead discuss medical problems. However, after seeing Kevin Falconer, the former mayor of San Diego, on the news this morning I felt I had to speak out. Governor Newsom has been an excellent governor of California. He made one mistake  by going to a birthday celebration for a friend at the expensive French Laundry restaurant. 

Mr. Falconer has been a most inadequate mayor.  The public schools are a disaster, there are homeless on every corner, and I don't see that he has done anything about the children locked up at the border. He said this was a mainly  a city of democrats. I doubt that is true when money seems so  important to many of the residents. 

If he were to be Governor of California, I think many residents would leave the state. Gavin Newsom did an excellent job in San Francisco and seems to care greatly about people and California. I cannot say the same about Mr. Falconer and San Diego. I do not know if he is a friend of Trump, but he seems to follow the same playbook. We MUST not allow him to be Governor of California. There has to be an answer for the homeless problem and the low income people in San Diego. Yes, the border is right by us, so why did he not anything about the terrible family separations, the children locked up in cages sleeping on a concrete floor without adequate sanitation, toothbrushes, or anyone to hug them?