Re: Re: FDA Approval of LDN

[Guest guest]

I don't think it would.

 

I had a talk with my neuro about a different drug and he told me Lyrica is just gabapentin (neurotin) that has been slightly altered.  He said they did this because gabapentin is now off patent and can be sold as a generic, costing them money.  So they went back to the lab and tweaked it a little - he explained the tweak but I don't remember what it was we had this chat well over a year ago.  Now they can get a new patent, a new name, and wait for it ... charge MORE money for it.

 

BUT - gabapentin is still on the market and available at considerably less cost.

 

Lyrica appears to work better for some people than the gabapentin.  Lyrica doses are smaller.

 

I tried both and neither worked very well for me.

 

So unless they " tweaked " the LDN in some way and were able to get a new patent I don't think they could charge more.  And even if they did naltrexone would still be there.

 

In my experience I have taken more drugs for their " off label " uses than I have for their " label " uses in my life.  All prescribed by doctors.  I think the fear of off label prescribing is overblown.

 

Jaxi

LDN for 1 year - ordered from India - make my own

UC in remission - off all related meds

Pain in check and quite tolerable (DLPA and turmeric and fish oil also help with this) - off all pain meds

Migraines down from several a week to one or less a month - use relpax when needed

Much improved allergies - off allergy meds

Stomach and duodenal ulcers have healed - off all related meds

On Fri, Mar 11, 2011 at 1:57 PM, Carolyn Sell <cvaughansell@...> wrote:

Regarding the debate over FDA approval of LDN;Dr. Skip's example was 4-Aminopyridine (4-AP), a drug whose patent expired some time ago, still being legally prescribed and compounded for ms patients' use.

Ampyra is now a commercially available, FDA approved drug that is a slow release version of 4-AP.  Ampyra is considerably more expensive than 4-AP but should be covered by health insurance because it is labeled for use by ms patients.

I still purchase the compounded 4-AP because I don't have health insurance and am unsure of the efficacy of the slow release version.  I know the results I get with the 4-AP, and can still afford it.So, why wouldn't LDN still be available as an off-label prescription like 4-AP is?  Just because a pharmaceutical company patents a version of it with a new name, why would the compounded off-label version be discarded?

Just wondering...Carolyn