Until the drug wins FDA approval, Bristol-Myers Squibb is offering it on a compassionate access basis to people with advanced melanoma.

This couldn't possibly be the same evil big pharm that Obama and Pelosi and Reid so desperately want to eliminate and destroy, could it? I mean is it actually within the realm of imagination that evil big pharm might spend some of their obscene profits and develop a drug that can save lives? There needs to be an investigation, possibly criminal charges, as to just how this happened. When Obama finds out I'll bet he will be mad enough to go on Larry King and express his outrage that Bristol-Myers developed something to save lives without government stimulus money.

Chicago skeptic, I'm with you. This is what capitalism can do if the government gets out of the way. I am also a melanoma survivor. Bravo Bristol Meyers!

Pharmaceutical companies do not care about helping people, saving lives, or reducing disease. They are GLAD that people get terrible diseases. They are GLAD that kids get Leukemia. They are GLAD that people have to be hospitalized and require life-maintaining drugs. They BENEFIT from it. They exist to make money off of people's misery. Do not kid yourself.

No one said that corporations should not exist. Chicagoguy & SincerelySilly: You are both LIARS. When the electorate in a democratic country get "out of the way" and let corporations do whatever the heck they want, then we get the kind of meltdowns that ALWAYS occur when Republicans are finished putting foxes in charge of the henhouse. Democrats are the ones who have to go behind them and clean up the resulting mess, such as the mortgage meltdowns and bank implosions after the short-sighted 'short-term-money-is-our-only-God' corporations are finished self-destructing. Republicans put science-denying, corporate-money whores in charge of organizations like the FDA that are supposed to protect the PUBLIC health - and then we get so-called 'wonder' drugs rushed to market only to have deaths later on from side effects that the drug companies kept secret from the unsuspecting public, massive class-action lawsuits against the drug-makers, drug recalls, etc., etc., etc., etc.

It is people like you that vote to reduce an elderly widow's Social Security payments that she worked an entire lifetime to build up, at the same time that you vote to allow ExxonMobil to not pay ANY taxes at all. Can you say EVIL? And it is ALSO people like you that have NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER with our government being "involved" if it means CORPORATE WELFARE.

The fact is corporations have a dollar sign where a soul should be. They have no soul. Nothing is quicker to devolve into actual EVIL than an entity that has a dollar sign where a soul should be. Corporations ALWAYS need the electorate in this democratic country to KICK their A$$ES into line on a regular basis to REMIND them that they are NOT above the law and that they don't get to do anything they feel like in pursuit of self-gain. Period. You have a problem with that? Then you're a completely politicized animal - a political beast. People like you can't seem to get the simple concept that a corporation can not only survive - but still thrive - when it stops WHINING and accepts 500 million dollars in profit rather than 505 million dollars in profit this year. Boo hoo.

It's people like you that actually DESERVE to live on the Gulf Coast and have a business there that relies on tourism and then have some irresponsible, criminal-like, British Petroleum company RUIN YOUR business, livelihood, and life - just because their maximize-short-term-gain-at-all-costs corporate culture didn't allow them to spend a few extra bucks on COMMON-SENSE safety measures in their oil-drilling. You would DESERVE to have your livelihood destroyed by a profit-crazed, cold, calculating, short-term-gain-is-our-God, we-are-above-the-law-because-we-think-we-can-buy-politicians 3-piece-suit.

It's people like you who actually DESERVE to have a life-catastrophe happen to you whereby you lose your assets at the same time you get denied health coverage when you've developed a life-threatening disease. You are the kind of political BEAST that DESERVES these types of things to happen to you.

btj89 is EXACTLY right. When a person is willfully blind for political, extremist reasons, what else can you say about why they are so blind? Their head must be somewhere where the common-sense light of day doesn't reach.

I cant help but wonder as to the cost of this treatment once its approved. I will bet that most insurance companies will balk at paying enormous amounts of $$$$$$/treatment, and average working slob will most likely die..........

Melanoma is the deadliest skin cancer that spreads to all parts of the body. Someone very dear to me just lost his several years' long fight to defeat melanoma and his days are numbered. People need to take all precautions when in the sun, and a dermatologist who treats only melanoma patients said that there will be a greater increase of melanoma because of tanning beds. There should be more research and funding towards new drugs to fight melanoma and all cancers.

All the patients died. That's terrific.

chicago skeptic: People like you and your beliefs that are moronic enough to post such a ridiculous post scare me more than being diagnosed with melanoma. The one thing that this last election proved to me is the true hatred, prejudice and ignorance in this country about a black President and how people perceive liberals, stem cell research and anything else that can benefit mankind if a Democrat is in the White House. Get used to it my man. The extreme right is ruining the Republican Party leaving the door wide open for future Democratic choices. Ironically, I am a Republican. Bravo for the current research and development to curb this terrible disease..melanoma. Maybe someday soon, they will have medicine for people who think like you do.

This Cancer Stuff Should Have Been Dealth With Years Ago, Cause It's Been Around Thousands Of Years. Oh That's Righ It's A Multi Billion Dollar Industry, Thanks To The Feds And The And Cancer Industry For Not Putting Out The Cures. So Why Would You Want To All Of A Sudden Find A Cure. They Keep Prying On The Public Funds, Health Insurance And Build Fancy Health Hospitals For Cancer And This Is Where The Billions Upon Billions Of Dollars Go ? But No Cure. The Same With Other Diseases.

missy: You are so blind to reality. Pharmaceutical companies do make huge profits. But look at it this way. Pharmaceutical companies develop cures as a RESPONSE to human misery and disease. Yes, their profits are enormous. But I am enourmously thankfull and GLAD (as you put it) that I can go to a drug store and get relief from anythng from head to toe. You might think of that the next time you seek relief for an ailment.....it's on the shelf baby...it's on the shelf.

I thought a vaccine had been developed for melanoma?

ChicagoSkeptic: Show me where I said corporations/companies should not profit. I didn't say it. I don't say that. I don't believe that. You are hearing what you're conditioned to hear - probably by politics - when you hear a reasonable person basically say something as simple and common-sense as this: our government has a ROLE to play in preventing 'profits-ahead-of-anything-and-everything' abuses by corporations. I'm referring to abuses that endanger public health and abuses that are criminal.

I am of course not against a profit-incentive in life. But absolutely NO ONE in this world can do whatever they want without having oversight of law to prevent them from self-gain at the expense of harming others. What I have something against is the virtual anarchy-talk that basically is always advocating that government shouldn't exist or has no role to play and should just DISAPPEAR when it comes to corporations. That is BALONEY and is DANGEROUS talk. Talk of government getting "out of the way" is just that. Corporations do just fine, thank you with laws in place to prevent them from putting profits AHEAD of public health. Let corporations exist WITHIN the structure of laws. Niether I nor President Obama has said otherwise. This link is regarding the pharmaceutical company in question. Of course no one is saying they should cease to exist. But government should leave them alone? I think not. Of course not. This is a democracy - not anarchy. We have a government that we elected to protect us. http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2007/September/07_civ_782.html

John C. Mayer (guy who posted just a few comments above here): THEIR PROFITS SHOULD NOT BE "ENORMOUS" - they should be REASONABLE. You are just like the people who act like if a company CEO doesn't make $40 million per year they can't be expected to do a good job of running a corporation, but thousands of that company's workers must be laid off or downsized and health coverage must be cut for the other employees, etc. Really? Can't do a good enough job on $20 million per year salary instead of $40 million? Tell that to the other people ready, willing, and able to step into that CEO's job in a heartbeat at $20 million per year. Don't try to tell me that corporations would refuse to exist if they make a Healthy profit developing medications - instead of "Enormous" profits. YOU are the one who is blind. Read just one example here and open your own eyes. http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2007/September/07_civ_782.html

All health roads lead to diet as preventative medicine followed in tandem by exercise and proper rest. Your body will take care of itself if you give it the proper tools (cancer-fighting not cancer-inducing foods). Stop eating meat and dairy, which promote disease. Your mama was right: Eat your vegetables!

This drug without a doubt; once approved, will become part of our "National Healthcare Service!"

Let's hope it is withheld from Republicans who are ill with Terminal Melanoma, as I am certain, they would not want it anyway? No doubt GOD will applaud any refusal of same on their behalf.

Shilgoch: Yup, that's right, and when late stage patients are informed of the small extension of "life" with the drug, they can make their own choices. For myself I would never choose to live an extra 4 months, cost my family any more than necessary expenses to be comfortable with a definitively terminal illness. In case you think I'm just theorizing, I was diagnosed with melanoma last year and face the prospect of it coming back and hitting my liver at any moment. 50% of all of the deaths from cancer are caused by rare cancers such as my uveal melanoma (eye) , but because skin melanoma is not a rare cancer there may be some hope that research in that area can be applied to my type of melanoma. Most of the basic research into cancer is funded by the government through research grants from the taxpayers. The sophisticated drugs to treat it are developed by for-profit companies. There are other funding mechanisms to develop drugs in other countries. If a country has a nationalized system of health care they don't stop doing research into good drug treatments. I think it is naive to think we have the best system in the world--there are always things we can learn from other developed and not-so-developed countries.

My Mother died of Melanoma in 1995. She was a few months shy of her 47th birthday. I was 18 my little sister was 12. There is an great big empty space in my heart where my best friend used to be. I miss her every day of my life.

I wish that not one human being, democrat, republican, rich, poor, young, old, black, white etc. ever have to bury their best friend because of a murderer like MELANOMA !!!

God Bless !

Im gonna watch my best feinds wife bury my buddy tuesday due to melanoma..any break-thru in the fighting of this terrible disease would be a good thing..r.i.p..Matt you will be missed.

I am going to post again, so if you have read my post bear with me. It is a horrifying cancer that is so difficult to treat. My mother's was found at the bottom of her foot and was mis-diagnosed as possibly diabetes since it was a sore that appeared to not heal. Anyhow, when she was diagnosed she was given 6-9 months to live.

When she was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma before undergoing conventional medicine (radiation) she and my father went to the Gerson Institute in California. Here she took a completely holistic approach to the disease and went completely organic, NO MEAT or DAIRY and drank fresh juices 8 times a day. She also did (sounds gross) coffee enemas daily. She and my father were there for three weeks training and undergoing a new approach to this cancer so when they came back home they knew how to prepare the juices, food etc. It was very expensive, but she basically was given 6-9 months to live and I think due to this life-style change she lived 2 1/2 years after her diagnosis. About 1 1/2 years after the diagnosis the melanoma did spread to her spine which just spiraled into a multitude of problems. She than did undergo several rounds of radiation to shrink the growths. Chemotherapy was not recommended at the University of Chicago, where she was treated. Her specialist found that it did not respond to melanoma cancer. He actually described it as " throwing the kitchen sink approach" to treating melanoma. It may help a little, but was used as a last option. He is one of the research conductors of this article.

Anyhow, it is great the drug has been shown to increase survival by a few years, but I am not sure the quality of survival was discussed in the article. I know when my mom went organic and did the holistic medicine she looked and felt fantastic. Her quality of life was good. I can't understand why holistic medicine isn't valued or talked about as much as conventional medicine. The medicine only increase a small percentage of the participants by 2 year survival, rather than 6-9 months. I personally think that more research needs to be done with this drug and patients need to be aware of other treatments of this cancer as well.

I just buried my fiance five weeks ago. He was first diagnosed with melanoma January 4. His first symptoms was a bilateral frontal lobe stroke while at work. He was a RN at a long term health care facility. I to was working at this same facility that day, when his co-workers came to me and said he was not acting right. When i got to him he started to seize and then quit breathing. I preformed CPR and he was taken to the emergency room. From there he was life flighted to a bigger hospital. Spent 13 days in intensive care. That's when I learned about this horrible disease. I was told he had to weeks to live. Anyway to make a long story short we spent 7 weeks in Zion Illinois at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America. His treatment was intense. He was sick almost the entire time we were there. I got to bring him home for a few days before I had to take him to the nursing home in which we were both employed with. He was 54 years young and there is not a day that goes by that I don't miss him. We were to be married this summer. We need to quit blaming other people for the wrong stuff in this world and try to work together to come up with a solution for this horrible disease. I sure hop no one has to encounter the last five months that I have had to.