At one point during our discussion the
secretary to Dr. Ramon expressed concern at the fact we didn't speak
Spanish (it is safe to say we speak enough Spanish to survive). He then
explained to us that there might be a problem if the auditor wanted to question
us (although I do not know who the auditor is or what they audit).
Dr. Ramon said that we would
be reimbursed for any expenses during the trial and I asked if that included
the cost of medication as well. He said it did not and also that my wife would
need to take CellCept, which is made by the trial sponsor, Roche, instead of
Myfortic, which is made by another company. When I asked why she would have
to take 3g of the Roche drug, CellCept, when she had been taking only 2g of
Myfortic, Dr. Ramon said it was to do with the way the different drugs were
assimilated in the body. When we asked why Roche could not also supply its own
tablets, Dr. Ramon said that existing prescription medicines that were not part
of the clinical trial would not be paid for by the sponsor. However, we had already purchased several hundred generic Myfortic tablets
from India
My wife was also to be screened for the trial, which involved extraction of blood and urine for testing. Over one year later we received a bill from the hospital for my wife's treatment during the period of the trial, which included these tests. One of the tests was called an Anti-Nuclear Antibody (ANA) and cost a whopping $1200. Three of these were conducted over the period of the trial even though my wife had already been diagnosed as having Lupus Nephritis Type 4 through a kidney biopsy. The same test in India costs $6. That's right, six dollars, not six hundred or sixty dollars.
My wife was also to be screened for the trial, which involved extraction of blood and urine for testing. Over one year later we received a bill from the hospital for my wife's treatment during the period of the trial, which included these tests. One of the tests was called an Anti-Nuclear Antibody (ANA) and cost a whopping $1200. Three of these were conducted over the period of the trial even though my wife had already been diagnosed as having Lupus Nephritis Type 4 through a kidney biopsy. The same test in India costs $6. That's right, six dollars, not six hundred or sixty dollars.
