Chris, are you still out there?

Obviously either of our sets of numbers up for interpretation, but maybe we can figure this out once and for all if we work together on it.

Cherie

Cherie,

Thanks for checking out my link. Please go back and look at my original point - There were zero patients at one year of Therapy on the slide until the Dec 07 numbers. This couldn't possibly be true if the original clinical trials exposure were included in the numbers. They did start new trials at the same time as the recommercialization.

When you think about it logically, it wouldn't make sense to include the original trial numbers with the post commercialization numbers as the circumstances surrounding treatment in the trials is substantially different from what they are trying to do in the commercialization setting.

Chris

Hi Chris,

I understand your point, but it doesn't explain mine.

Can we talk about this offline, then hopefully come back with an answer?

Cherie

Cherie,

I read through your link and all I can say is that the issue is as clear as mud. My link to Biogen's charts clearly shows that they did not include the prior clinical trials in their safety numbers reported there. With your link it is impossible to tell if the numbers exposed to Tysabri include the prior clinical trials or not.

With it being as clear as mud, it is clearly up for interpretation. I still believe my interpretation is correct as evidenced by my example but this is clearly not enough to sway you. (At the end of the day I live with this risk, literally as I'm taking the drug) We don't have to agree. The only takeaway we both should have from this discussion is that posting PML risk numbers is fraught with potential for error/misinterpretation. Is this fair for someone contemplating using this drug? The label says 1 in 1000 with new wording that the rate in monotherapy appears to be less than this. Let's let the regulators decide what the PML risk is in monotherapy based on the correct patient exposure data in monotherapy.

Chris

My experience with statistics is that they are usually biased. People use statistics that flatter themselves. We saw this all through the last presidential campaign. Each side used what stats best fit their agenda.

It is truly as Mark Twain said, "There are 3 kinds of lies; lies, damn lies and statistics."

What it boils down to is what each person with MS feels comfortable with. I could never be like Cherie, never having MRIs, not taking any DMD. I would find it difficult to look at my husband/children/grandchildren and say I didn't use what was available for me, so now you get to take care of me.

I fully realize that I may end up not being able to care for myself someday anyway, regardless of the treatments I'm using now. But at least, and I mean least, I can say I gave it my best shot with what information/medicine I had available to me at the time.

This is evident with me being on Tysabri, when really, I'm probably a very, very mild case of MS. I figure I want to stay that way. It helps that I have double insurance coverage, make good money, and so that is not an issue. I believe I prepared earlier in life to get to this stage, not knowing then that I'd be in this situation now.

If life hands me PML, so be it. I'm fully prepared to meet whatever challenges lie in front of me. I have faith in Tysabri. Sometimes that is better than statistics!!!