To the editor,
Each year the Newman Club – or Catholic Campus Ministry– at Fort Lewis College offers an alternative spring break where students get the opportunity to serve a community by volunteering at charities and nonprofit organizations. This year, nine  students, one adult chaperone and FLC’s campus minister, Wivina Vigil, drove more than 800 miles to San Diego.

While in San Diego, the Newman Club did volunteer work with Catholic Charities, the Catholic Worker House, as well as Father Joe’s Village. The work consisted mainly of putting together food baskets for the needy, serving meals to residents of Father Joe’s Village and sorting secondhand clothing that was donated to the Catholic Worker House. In addition to doing volunteer work, the students had the opportunity to meet four refugees from Nigeria and one from Cuba who are living at the Catholic Worker House in San Diego.

Toward the end of the trip, when emotions and stress levels were elevated, two Catholic Worker volunteers, nine students, two chaperones, one man from Cuba and four Nigerian men gathered around the dinner table at the Catholic Worker House. As we munched on pizza and Doritos, the Nigerians told us their life stories as well as their individual journeys to the United States.

The Nigerians fled their country because of the war and conflict between Christians and Muslims. In Nigeria, the population is estimated to be 165 million. The Muslims make up about 50 percent of the population and reside in the northern part of the country while the Christians make up 48 percent and live predominantly in the center and southern parts of the country. The two religions dominate the separate regions of Nigeria and are in a constant state of conflict. Because of the clashing, there have been hundreds of massacres leaving countless people dead. Because of the overwhelming violence, the citizens of Nigeria have no choice but to look for a better future. And for many, hope resides in America.

Hearing the Nigerians express the sadness, anger and suffering that they experienced in seeing family members get brutally murdered with machetes and bullets because of different religious beliefs was humbling. We are fortunate to live in a country where we have the freedom to choose our own religion and are not suppressed because of our beliefs. It’s baffling that people are being murdered in Nigeria and other parts of the world because of religious beliefs.

In the grand scheme of things, religion is merely a label, it is something that brings people closer to God, Yahweh, Allah or whomever we choose to worship. Ultimately, no one will have exactly the same beliefs because we are all different, and that’s the beauty of it. Religion provides a way for people to become spiritually connected to each other as well as to a higher being. Its purpose is to help us grow as individuals and become part of the community that is the world.  Religion should not be the root of heartless crimes that cause so much suffering and pain. It should be something that binds us and creates community, not something that causes conflict, hatred and heartbreak.

It was a beautiful moment to hear these men, who we had known for merely a few hours, open their past up to a bunch of college students from a small town where happiness exudes from the mountaintops and having an original belief or idea is considered to be “hipster.” Their stories were inspiring and empowering. They never gave up on their faith, and their hope for a brighter future remained conscious.

The different people we met and the experiences we had on the journey helped me realize that we were put on this earth to listen to each other, help each other through hard times, and simply be happy for each other during the good. It is in doing these things that we will become content.

– Taylor Ferraro, FLC sophomore, communications major

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Biosimilars ensure access to affordable meds

To the editor,
Patients with severe chronic disease are eager to gain access to a new class of medications known as “biosimilars,” which are less expensive imitations of “biologic” medications that have proven highly effective at treating a wide range of debilitating diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, cancer, psoriasis and lupus, among others.

Right now, Colorado is considering a bill that would create a streamlined pathway for patients to obtain these cutting-edge biosimilars. This legislation establishes some wise patient protections and ensures residents will have access to these promising therapies for decades to come.
Biologics are complex drugs derived from living organisms. Biosimilars are similar to, but not the same as, the existing biologic drugs. The bill before the Colorado statehouse would help patients access these new therapies while accounting for the unique health concerns associated with biologics and biosimilars.

Most people don’t think twice about swapping out a traditional brand name drug for a generic. But exchanging one biologic drug for another is a different matter. Among conventional pharmaceuticals, the active ingredient in generic drugs is chemically identical to the brand name. But biologic drugs are made from living things, such as cells, bacteria, yeast or animal products. As a result, biologics are much more complex than conventional pharmaceuticals and are produced through more complicated procedures.

Biologic drugs can’t easily be replicated by anyone other than the company that originally developed the drug. Another manufacturer can, at best, produce something biologically similar. In most cases, one biosimilar drug can be swapped for another without affecting treatment. But biosimilars are not actually identical to the biologic they’re based on. In some rare cases, they can elicit different medical reactions. That’s why any legislation governing the prescription of biosimilar drugs must contain four specific patient safeguards.

First, pharmacists should only be able to exchange a biologic with its biosimilar if the Food and Drug Administration has deemed the two safely interchangeable.

Second, patients must be advised when they are getting a biosimilar.

Third, the prescribing physician must be informed that a biosimilar substitution has been made so that he or she can properly monitor the treatment and track any adverse reactions as well as therapeutic success.

Finally, doctors and pharmacists must keep records on biosimilar prescriptions for at least five years. That’s because adverse reactions to biologics may not appear until as late as a year after a patient has begun taking them.

Insurance companies and health-care providers will soon start structuring their plans to favor cheaper biosimilar alternatives where they exist, which makes sense. Only with all the information available can patients and physicians make a fully informed decision. But it’s also essential that patients be made aware of what’s happening, and that doctors are informed if a pharmacist swaps medicines.

The Global Healthy Living Foundation is an organization representing patients with chronic conditions and we are pleased to support Colorado’s biosimilar bill because it includes all four of these safeguards.

As patient advocates, safety is our top priority. Legislators, health-care providers and patients who receive these treatments can rest assured that this legislation creates a process by which substitution for biosimilars the FDA deems safe can occur. These common-sense procedures improve safety with the promise to decrease cost.

– Seth Ginsberg, president, Global Healthy Living Foundation