People of Faith for Access to Medicines, PFAM, was recognized this week as the “NGO in the Spotlight” by the advocacy group Prescription Justice.
Prescription Justice has a broad agenda for improving access to medicines, with special attention to allowing U.S. patients to import safe and affordable prescription drugs when U.S. prices are unaffordable. PFAM wrote about the new Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act in a recent blog post that was also published at Truthout.
That focus is a natural for Prescription Justice, as they received their initial funding from PharmacyChecker.com, which compares online prescription prices and reviews online pharmacies for safety and reliability. In her new book, American Sickness, Elisabeth Rosenthal of Kaiser Health News recommended PharmacyChecker.com as part of her suggestion that U.S. residents struggling with prescription costs consider imports.
PFAM’s recognition is a public acknowledgement of the message that so many advocates have been telling us for months: the access to medicines movement very much needs to connect with the grassroots networks and moral messaging of faith communities in the U.S. and beyond. So we will continue to work toward accomplishing that, and thank you to Prescription Justice!
“Big Pharma: Fix It” Film Showing on May 10th
A terrific new documentary on access to medicines, Big Pharma: Market Failure, is set to be screened next month in Bloomington, Indiana, The screening and following discussion is hosted by our good friends at Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan, Wednesday May 10th at 6:30 PM at the Monroe County Public Library Auditorium, 303 E. Kirkwood Ave. in Bloomington. You can watch the trailer for the movie here.
The new movie is from the same folks who produced Fix It: Healthcare at the Tipping Point,, a similarly strong film exposing the tragic failures of the U.S. healthcare system—and the clear solutions that are available.
HCHP, PFAM, and Common Cause Indiana, are preparing to show Big Pharma: Market Failure in Indianapolis soon—we will let you know details as they get confirmed. For our friends living outside the great state of Indiana, the film has not been widely released yet. The folks at Fix It should be the best source of information about where it will show and how to support a screening.
In honor of the Big Pharma: Market Failure screenings, a future PFAM blog post will feature other videos and films that compellingly tell the story of the access to medicines crisis and how to fix it. Look for that post soon—and, in the meantime, use our comments section on the blog to share with us your suggestions for videos and movies to include!
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