Patients offer their perspectives on needed reform By B.C. Manion bcmanion@lakerlutznews.com
Before she became ill,Ashleigh Pike was a vibrant young woman who delighted in teaching elementary school children. Now she lives life from a wheelchair, with her mother providing her full-time care. “On the outside, I look fine,” the former teacher said. But,“my quality of life has been greatly compromised.” The young woman suffers from a form of dysautonomia, a malfunction of the autonomic nervous system.That system controls automatic functions of the body, such as heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, kidney function, temperature control, and dilation and constriction of the pupils, according to Dysautonomia International’s website. Pike was one of several panelists at a roundtable discussion of health care issues, as seen from the patient’s perspective. U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis hosted the session on Aug. 19 at The Bethany Center in Lutz to help inform his work as a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Healthcare subcommittee. Later in the week, Bilirakis hosted a second roundtable, focusing on health care issues from the point of view of providers. The first 21st Century Cures Roundtable, “Patients and the Patient Perspective,” put a human face on the often complicated and frustrating experiences that ill people have in trying to find treatments and cures for their conditions. Colleen Labbadia shared the heartbreaking story of her young son, who has been diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a progressive condition that is always fatal. Labbadia urged a greater degree of flexibility for clinical trials in the effort to find
ways to treat and cure the condition. “Each loss of function is like a little death,” Labbadia said. “Parents like myself, we’re willing to accept significant risk.” Dr. Samantha Lindsey advocated for Alpha-1 patients, such as herself. Alpha-1 is the most common known genetic risk factor for emphysema, B.C. MANION/STAFF PHOTO and also can lead to liver disease, according to the Ashleigh Pike, left, looks on as her mother, Beth Pike, describes Alpha-1 Foundation’s the impacts that Ashleigh’s illness has had on the young woman’s life. website. Anyone who has been diagnosed with chronic obstructive trouble getting around, Church said. It also pulmonary disease should be tested for would reduce financial burdens. Alpha-1, the website recommends. One obstacle to telehealth are current Early diagnosis can make a tremendous state licensing requirements that require difference, Lindsey said. doctors to be licensed in the state to serve “Even though I look healthy on the out- patients there, Michael Church said. The side, my lungs are like the lungs of a problem is that many people live in states 104-year-old,” she said. where there are no doctors specializing in Gretchen Church and her husband, movement disorders. Michael — who both suffer from “For the Parkinson’s community, teleParkinson’s disease — were at the session to health has the potential to be powerful,” advocate for better medical treatment for Gretchen Church said. It could help people people who have the conditions. live independently longer, she added. “I probably don’t look like I have Dr.Wayne Taylor, a leukemia survivor, said Parkinson’s, but believe it, I do, ” said there’s room for improvement in the matchGretchen Church, of the Parkinson’s Action es for clinical trials.Taylor, a physician from Network. Hudson, underwent a clinical trial, and once The couple said that Bilirakis and his he was in remission, he was able to undergo congressional colleagues should help peo- a double umbilical cord transplant. ple with Parkinson’s by making it possible In a double umbilical cord transplant, the for these patients to use telehealth services blood-forming stem cells collected from the — a remote form of health care delivery. umbilical cord blood of two babies is used Telehealth services would make life easi- for blood stem cell transplantation. One umer for Parkinson’s patients who often have bilical cord would not provide sufficient
stem cells for the transplant. When it comes to clinical trials,Taylor believes more people could benefit from better matching. Patricia Stanco, a regional care manager for the ALS Association’s Florida Chapter, posed some questions for Bilirakis and his congressional colleagues to consider: “Is there a smarter way to do research? Is there a common-sense approach to access?” She also wonders if changes can be made in Food and Drug Administration regulations. “There are surely ways to get more shots on goal for research,” Stanco said. Janice Starling, a kidney transplant recipient, was there on behalf of the American Association of Kidney Patients. “If people in Congress would do more of what we’re doing right now, we’d get more help,” Starling observed. She noted that Medicare often doesn’t cover treatments that are effective, or will cover them only for a specific period of time when more time might be necessary. “What is going on? Why can’t we get the help we need?” Starling asked. Dr. David Lubin, a recently retired physician from South Tampa, also offered some observations from the audience. “Insurance companies and big pharma are in control of medicine,” Lubin said. With the vast array of illnesses, Lubin said, it takes “almost Solomon-like” wisdom to know where to direct efforts and resources. From a personal perspective, Bilirakis said he’s watched family members and friends suffer from rare conditions that have no cures. “The right thing to do is to help our people, our patients,” Bilirakis said. “I want to take the politics out of this.”
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