March 13, 2006

Mr. Charles Johnson
Director
Illinois Department on Aging
421 E. Capitol Ave. Ste. 100
Springfield, IL. 62701-1720

Dear Mr. Johnson:

Thank you very much for your letter of February 17, 2006 references # 01753.

The co-payment member of the AARP Illinois Cares RX drug program.

I have one extremely big problem. Senior Citizens with a serious illness thought this new prescription program was going to be the answer to our prayers. We were finally going to get help with our medications. This is not the case.

I have MS and have had it over twenty years. The medicine I am on is 4 Aminopyridine. This medicine has been given to MS patients over twenty years. It is a compounded medicine. Only three pharmaceutical companies manufacture this medicine. One of the companies is College Pharmacy, Colorado Springs, CO. I have been on this medicine over ten years with no side effects. College Pharmacy gave patients on this medicine the attached side effects. Dr. Howard Liption, Northwestern Medical Center, Dr. Dusan Stefoski, Rush Presbyterian St. Luke Hospital have been giving this medicine to their patients in a study for twenty years. There are other doctors in IL. and other states researching this same medicine. If needed, I will get this information for you.

My problem is the 4 Aminopyriine is not covered in the drug program. The FDA is dragging their feet to okay this MS medicine. Their excuse is the drug is compounded. Please let us know why the FDA needs so many years of study to approve this drug. The FDA has okayed other drugs with less study and more side effects. Drugs the FDA has okayed to be used by patients had to be pulled off the market because the side effects were so harmful.

Last week I received a letter from AARP asking for a donation to help them get a bill passed to enable us to purchase drugs from foreign countries. With this letter little perforated notes to be signed by the addressee to Senator Richard Durbin and Senator Baarack Obama to back this bill. This was sent to every Senator in every state. If this bill gets passed the MS patients on this drug will claim DISCRIMINATION.

Please tell us why the FDA is stopping our MS medicine from being okayed when prescription medicines without their so-called OKAY will be bought out of the US and no control on manufacturing. Wouldn't you say this is FRAUD when deals are made with Canadian Pharmaceutical Companies and now we are going to foreign countries?

We need our medicine and being on a fixed income every dollar saved is Christmas to us. We need help in fighting the wrong doings of the FDA and having to go foreign countries to get prescription medicines. Sure SENIOR CITIZENS DESERVE BETTER but to be honest with you no one really cares about us. As far as they are concerned they would save a lot of money if we were not around but as luck would have it we are to make their lives miserable.

Cordially,



UVDA
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007