With the context of drug shortages in France, it is more and more complicated to obtain treatment against cystic fibrosis, from which Maxime, 15, suffers, who urgently sent a letter to the Minister of Health.
- Maxime, 15 years old, has cystic fibrosis and he needs extensive treatment on a daily basis, with ten medications to take to guarantee his survival.
- However, in the current context of drug shortages, four of its drugs are totally or partially out of stock, including growth hormones.
- “It’s a medicine that I take morning and evening. If I no longer have this medicine, I die. A college student’s life can turn into horror”, laments Maxime.
“Mr. Minister of Health, my name is Maxime, I live in Moyon, in the Manche department”, writes the 15-year-old teenager, in the letter he sent to the Minister of Health, François Braun, last February. Maxime has cystic fibrosis and he needs important treatment to follow on a daily basis, with ten medications to take to guarantee his survival.
However, in the current context of drug shortages, four of his drugs are totally or partially out of stock, in particular growth hormones, essential to ensure the development of the boy. BFMTV interviewed him and his family, in a subject aired this weekend.
The mother has to travel 45 km to find a pharmacy that has the medicine
“My pharmacy managed to get a box by calling the Pfizer laboratory directly”, explains the boy’s mother, Amélie Lefranc. A situation that will not last: from February, the pharmacy can no longer provide them with the drug for growth hormones. Since then, Amélie has had to travel “45 kilometers” to find him in another pharmacy in the department. In the event of a total rupture, doing without this stamp would lead Maxime to chain operations.
“It’s a medicine that I take morning and evening. If I no longer have this medicine, I die. A college life can turn into horror”deplores Maxime. “I find it incorrect that in France, at present, we can say to a person or a child, ‘I’m sorry, but we don’t have a solution to bring you because there’s no no drugs'”is indignant his father, Anthony Croquevieille.
A month and a half later, Maxime’s family is still in the same situation
Today, nearly a month and a half later, the family is still in the same situation. The Ministry of Health, however, responded to Maxime, telling him that the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) would take care of his case.
In France, nearly 6,000 patients like Maxime are affected by cystic fibrosis, according to National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm). This serious genetic disease, linked to the alteration of the CFTR gene, is mainly characterized by digestive and respiratory damage. Each year, there are about 200 births of children with cystic fibrosis.
