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A 15-year-old teenager, affected by cystic fibrosis, decided to directly challenge the Minister of Health in the face of the drug shortages of which he is a victim. Treatments essential to its survival and which are sometimes very difficult to find in pharmacies.
The media have widely discussed in recent months the shortages of paracetamol or amoxicillin, but the problems also concern more specific drugs, such as those taken in case of cystic fibrosis. Maxime, 15, depends on these treatments.
A daily life punctuated by treatments
The teenager is subjected to a heavy treatment, which counts ten drugs. Problem: for certain products, the tensions are such that his parents are struggling more and more to find his treatment in pharmacies. “My pharmacy managed to get a box by calling the Pfizer laboratory directly“explains the mother of the young man, interviewed by BFM TV.
To the point that the situation can be dangerous for the teenager. Because Maxime recalls his vital dependence on this drug, which he takes “morning and evening”. “If I no longer have this medicine, I die. A college life can turn into horror“.
The teenager challenges the Minister of Health
In total, these are four drugs, including growth hormones, which are regularly lacking in the young man. This is what decided him to directly challenge François Braun, the Minister of Health, by mail at the beginning of February.
In return, the minister assured him that the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) would take care of his case. But since, radio silence. A situation bitterly deplored by his parents, forced to seek – sometimes more than 40 kilometers away – the treatments their son needs to live.