Thanks for your note. And please don’t misunderstand me - I’m not making any judgement about Tysrabi or its value to MS patients. I simply reported that another case of PML occurred and noted the context, which is that a few other cases were recently reported.

Again, I think Ivan was confusing the messenger with the message - the case arose and it was reported. I do not believe that writing about the exisnce of another case is the same thing as saying Tysabri is a bad drug. If I wanted to write that, I would have done so.

Hope this helps,
ed

Those particular medications can last for years in the body even though the patient has discontinued them for quite some time.

Also, please note that the expert authors of the New England Journal of Medicine attribute PML to a diminished immune system, and not to Tysabri. See: http://tinyurl.com/2mhn82

So far, it has been determined that each patient which developed PML was severely immune suppressed prior to &/or during Tysabri therapy, thus developing PML.

There are currently over 46,000 patients that have been treated with Tysabri (according to statements made by Biogen)

I honestly believe that Tysabri has been given a bad rap…, the ABCRs efficacies only range from 29% to 34% [respectively], and Tysabri’s efficacy is 67% when it comes to preventing further relapses, slowing the disease process down and shows significant improvements with regard to function in some MS patients.

Tysabri is the only MS FDA approved medication which can make that claim.

Respectfully submitted,

Lauren Roberts (MS patient for 33 plus years & and Tysabri patient for more than two years)

With all due respect, I believe my three-paragraph post was rather straightforward and conveyed basic information about a drug that is widely used, offers a great deal of benefit for many patients, but unfortunately, has also a history of causing a problem for others - to the extent that Tysabri was briefly off the market. You know this much, though, yes?

In running this item, I was providing coverage of what turns out to be an ongoing story. If there are factual mistakes in my post, please point them out and I will correct them, assuming your own facts are accurate. However, I assure you there was no attempt to ‘damage companies and stock prices.’ There was no hidden agenda and, to be honest, I think your accusations are off base.

Perhaps you would prefer such episodes go unreported. You don’t say anything about your own agenda. But there are many reasons that such information should be reported, because there are people - regulators, doctors, patients and, yes, investors, among others - who do need to know.

Hope this helps,
ed

The yawn was in reply to yet another piece of sensationalist rubbish written by journalists that seemingly have a hidden agenda. So please do not try to play the emotional blackmail card. Nobody wants to see people suffer.

The irony of these, continued and often incorrect media pieces, serves only to muddy the waters for those people wanting to understand the real issues.

We do not want to read another manufactured ‘gutter press’ article aimed at damaging companies and stock prices and when we see such most of us sigh and, in my case, yawn!

Ivan

By the way, there are ~43,000 deaths by car accidents in the US every year. Our population (250 million) suggests that the “random” death rate is ~1 in 5000 people PER YEAR will be killed by a car accident. That is about the same risk that people with MS face by taking this drug. That’s hardly a risk in my mind…

Hi Ed. I am still around.

Unfortunately, PML us usually NOT non-fatal in this population.

An NIH website reports that “For non-AIDS individuals with PML, the prognosis remains grim; the disease usually lasts for months and 80 percent die within the first 6 months, although spontaneous improvement has been reported. Those who survive PML can be left with severe neurological disabilities.”

Hardly worth a yawn, especially among those who have taken the drug.

Ok, so let’s have a more reasoned discussion. What are you saying should happen in responce to these brain infections? 3 out of 35,000 is a pretty small percentage. MS is a pretty devestating degenerative disease. I would gladly accept a ~1 in 10,000 risk of a (non-fatal) infection with the hope that I might have another few years of quality life. Maybe you think about these issues differently. Please explain.

Thanks,
Kool-Aid boy

So, to answer your question, Kool-Aid boy: Yes.

Namaste.