Maxime, 15, has cystic fibrosis and must undergo heavy treatment to ensure his survival. Faced with the shortage of drugs affecting France, it is increasingly difficult for his parents to obtain his treatment. The young teenager decided to send a letter in February to François Braun, Minister of Health, to alert him to his situation.
“Mr. Minister of Health, my name is Maxime, I live in Moyon, in the Channel”. At 15, Maxime has cystic fibrosis. He must take a heavy daily treatment, consisting of ten drugs. But, faced with the shortage of drugs that affects France in particular, four of its drugs are out of stock in whole or in part.
Among the tablets that are missing: growth hormones, essential for the development of adolescents. “My pharmacy managed to get a box by calling the Pfizer laboratory directly,” says the boy’s mother, Amélie Lefranc, at the microphone of BFMTV.
“A college life can turn into horror”
But in February, the pharmacy fails to obtain the drug. The mother of the family had to travel “45 kilometers” to pick it up from another pharmacy in the department. Without this medicine, Maxime risks chaining operations.
A medicine that I take morning and evening. If I no longer have this medicine, I die. A college life can turn into horror,” fears the teenager.
Faced with this situation, the teenager decided to write, in February, a letter to the Minister of Health, François Braun, to alert him to his situation. For now, the family has no horizon.
“I find it incorrect that in France, at present, we can say to a person or a child, ‘I’m sorry, but we don’t have a solution to bring you because there’s no no drugs'”, criticizes the father of Maxime, Anthony Croquevieille.
The Ministry of Health responded to Maxime, assuring him that the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) was taking care of his file. Nearly a month and a half later, the family still has no solutions.