
My friend Erick Erickson has written and spoken extensively in opposition to the nomination of another friend of mine, Bobby Kennedy Jr., for the job of secretary of Health and Human Services. I have known Erick for over 20 years. I have known Bobby for a few years. I support the nomination of Bobby Kennedy Jr. in respectful disagreement with Erick—who laid out his views, and the personal experience that informs them, in a recent heartfelt piece for The Free Press titled “Big Pharma Saved My Life.”
Big Pharma really did save Erick and his wonderful wife Christy’s lives after they were each diagnosed at virtually the same moment with life-threatening medical problems. I love them both, I prayed for them both when they were diagnosed, and I cheered for them both when the drugs worked.
Like Erick, I am alive thanks to an innovative drug produced by Big Pharma. In my case, after being diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2011, I was able to take a breakthrough drug called brentuximab in a trial during my treatment at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Brentuximab targets the cancer cells rather than carpet-bombing my entire body, and it worked. It is now part of the standard of care for many Hodgkin’s cancer patients.