I once thought the delay in duodopa getting approved in this country was the competition/opposition from DBS...and perhaps there it some of that.

Recently, however, I realized that it must be coming from within: our govt. does NOT want to have to pay $60K a year for folks on medicare to get this, year after year after year....that is the majority of PWP with more everyday.

Additionally, I have no doubt private insurers aren't too happy about the prospect of having to pay for their insureds to get this, again, it's an annual cost, much higher than the initial outlay of DBS and an enormous addition to annual payout costs, certainly much higher than sinemet, mirapex, etc. Those might seem expensive to us, but pale in comparison to the $5K a month duodopa would/could cost.

So what can be done? Duodopa has been languishing for years, now decades in this country. I don't see its approval process any further down the road than years ago. Anyone have any information about this?