The idea
The NHS price of Sativex is £125 per 10ml vial, which lasts about 10 days.
Sativex is vailable under certain conditions
# Multiple Sclerosis
# Cancer Pain
# Neuropathic Pain
GW pharmaceuticals profits from sativex and its partners are listed below.
GW Pharms profits for the last year £1.5 million (i wonder what next years prfits will stand at with sativex at a cost to the nhs of £5000 per patient per year)
Almirall is Spain’s largest pharmaceutical company with sales approximating €1 billion per year (sativex is licenced in spain too)
The Otsuka Group comprises 153 companies and employs approximately 36,000 people in 23 countries and regions worldwide. Otsuka and its consolidated subsidiaries earned US $9.6 billion in annual revenue in its fiscal year ended in March 2009 (sativex also licensed in canada and the usa)
Bayer HealthCare, a subsidiary of Bayer AG, is one of the world’s leading, innovative companies in the healthcare and medical products industry. The pharmaceuticals business operates under the name Bayer Schering Pharma. This business employs 38,000 people and reported 2007 sales of €10.3bn
That is quite a lot of billions in profit there and yes there not simply from sativex but why are the government allowing these companies to profit from a persons human right.
it's like money laundering, by washing the evil weed and turning it into sativex they can sell it back to the nhs and give it to those in need and free themselves from any criminal prosecution.
if you look at gw pharms product guide they are working on medications for other illnesses not presently under sativex.
Oncology
Metabolic Syndrome
Psychiatric Disorders
Epilepsy
Inflammation
Sativex derives from the Cannabis Plant so therefore i suppose the medical opportunities are endless.
Why is it important?
The IDMU idependant drug monitoring unit has researched the costs per kilo of home grow cannabis and they work it out to be the following:
Cannabis estimated cost is £170 per kilo in electricity, nutrients and equipment etc
Which works out at around £5 an oz
An oz of home grown cannabis would in medical terms last patients 10 days, a saving of £120 in comparison to sativex.
This annually would be a saving of over £4800 per patient.
Are we a nation with an NHS system that has bottomless pockets because i think not.
Sativex seems to be a political and profitable way to charge the NHS and tax payers millions for a substance where the alternative is a plant that can be grown at home at cost to the user and no one else.