Quote:
Originally Posted by ewizabeth
Harry,
God bless you but I have to disagree with you. I thank God for Tysabri because I feel so good since being on it.
I'm thankful that it's available in the US and that we have good health insurance (though very expensive) and I can have the infusions.
I'm also glad they're looking for better ways to detect PML. I don't know what more they can be doing. They're keeping an awesome drug on the market IMO for those who need it, and taking steps to avoid the worst of all side effects (PML).
We need naysayers to keep things in balance so I don't fault you or Cherie or others for questioning Tysabri or other drugs. Matter of fact, I used to be in agreement with you. But now that I've been on Tysabri for almost two years, I have to agree with those who were singing its praises for so long since I feel so much better and my life has improved.
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Hi Wiz,
My concern isn't with Tysabri because the drug is obviously helping a number of people...and you can certainly atest to that!!
It is with Biogen's handling of the drug from day one and the incredible rush they did to get it into the MS market. In my opinion, that was driven by pure greed because of the huge $$$ potential they saw after year one of the Phase III trials. They went so far as to partly publish their marketing plan on the internet, stating the hundreds of thousands of MS patients they expected to use the drug as well as the millions and millions of revenue they were going to get. They figured that within 18 months of its approval, they would recover all of their development costs.
They took this course despite numerous warnings from other researchers about the potential problems that Tysabri could cause. We saw their top execs makes millions in stock option profits before the drug was pulled and then they raised the cost of the drug about 20% before it was re-released...so it was the MS patient/insurance companies who were made to pay for their mistakes.
Again, that's what irks me about them. I wish you continued success with the Tysabri infusions and hopefully you remain healthier than in the past.
Harry