PLEASE BUY ME MY LIFE by Dianne Lang

In their infinite wisdom, the Medical Control Council shut the Western Province Blood Transfusion laboratory that was making Stabilized Human Serum to treat Hypogammaglobulinemia, amongst other things.  The Western Province Blood Transfusion Services is a charity and did not have the money to equip a new laboratory so it was closed.

The only treatment available to South Africans is Polygam and Octagam, these being the only two products registered by the government.   Because of the horrendous side effects of this intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) I asked the Professor in Cape Town how long I would live if I did not have IVIG.  He said, “Three months”.   

Hypogammaglobulinemia is a rare disease diagnosed once in every 10 million people in which the immune system does not produce any antibodies and therefore the patient is susceptible to every germ, virus, fungus, allergens and bacteria around.  Every infection causes more organ damage and the more organ damage, the faster the organs stop working.  Most of us have huge problems with our lungs.  I am on 24 hour oxygen.  However, there are other conditions such as CVID that also requires monthly infusions so that those patients can stay alive.  IVIG also saves the lives of burn victims.

Discovery was paying for my Octagam after I went to their medical review board because I was allergic to Polygam.  This year they sent a letter stating that I would have to pay the difference between the Polygam and the Octagam, although at the dosages required, there is little difference in price.

I tried Polygam and with each successive infusion, my allergic reaction became worse until the physician stopped the infusion altogether because he said that if I have Polygam it will be a catastrophe that will land me in ICU on a ventilator if they can save my life.

My only alternative and the only two registered medications in South Africa are Polygam and Octagam.   I have not had Octagam for three months and feel so ill that I can only describe it as suffering.  No one would allow an animal to suffer like this. Every day is a borrowed day.  My response to Octapharma SA was that there are only two registered treatments, Polygam and Octagam, and Octagam is out of stock.  He has no idea when they will have stock but did say sorry and that he has no advice for me.  I have tried every hospital, pharmaceutical house and pharmacy in the country.  There is no Octagam.

In the USA they have many alternatives to use.  In South Africa they only have two.  But to get it from the USA to here with all the red tape and then to have to pay for it (I need 35g per month Octagam at R30K per month) is overwhelming in its complexity.  I am also too ill to travel to another country that may have Octagam in stock.   

Somewhere someone has to help me to get the medication and buy me my life.  Our Bill of Rights says that we have the Right to Life.  The South African Government and Discovery are denying me my right to LIVE.

Can the Minister of the Department of Health or the President, the Public Protector or the Medical Control Council please make sure that I can LIVE?  Can anyone buy me my life?