Allies in the fight...

While perusing the newspaper this morning, I saw a great column from Jerry Large about the Children's Alliance. The Children's Alliance fights for all-things "kids" in Olympia, from nutrition to education to health care. They have an extensive and very experienced staff, and I always learn something from them whenever we talk. It's usually around health care since we collaborate together as part of the Healthy Washington Coalition, a group of consumers dedicated to improving the state's health care system. We share ideas, coordinate strategy, and work in tandem to make sure that the system works all consumers, not just people with chronic conditions or children. We are more likely to get a lasting solution if we can make sure it works for everyone else, not just the MS community, so relationships like these are very important to our work.

The column is a great introduction to the issues that legislators are facing this year. What are your thoughts on the most important issues facing people with MS and other chronic diseases this year?

How much should prescription drugs cost?

A recent article in the New York Times sheds light on a trend within the pharmaceutical industry - sky high price increases with little justification except profit. The drug featured in the article at first primarily treated infantile spasms, but has since been marketed for other such uses as MS attacks and rheumatologic conditions. The article offers an extensive history of the drug and gets one thinking about some important questions about prescription drugs. How much should drugs cost? Who should pay for them? In figuring out what drug works best for you, should you consider price? It's a great read and something that everyone in the MS community should be talking about.