Date:   11/28/2004 11:23:04 AM ( 20 y ago)
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Business Post > 2003/10/05 > MS experimental drug `could save state millions of euro'


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MS experimental drug `could save state millions of euro'
Sunday, October 05, 2003
By Simon Carswell
A handful of multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferers in Ireland have switched to a new medication that costs just 4 per cent of the price of the drug commonly used to treat the disease. Most of the 6,000 MS patients in the state use a drug called Beta Interferon. However, about a dozen Irish MS sufferers have switched to a drug called Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN), which boosts the immune system and is used to treat HIV/Aids and cancer.

A year's supply of Beta Interferon for an MS sufferer costs the state about €12,000, compared to €480 a year for LDN. Most Irish patients buy LDN from Dr Robert Lawrence, a GP based in Wales who is himself an MS sufferer.

Dr Lawrence said he has supplied the drug to about a dozen patients in Ireland, mostly in the west.The drug is approved by the FDA in the US, but no clinical trials have been carried out on it in Ireland or Britain. He said he explains this to patients before selling them the drug.

"I explain when I introduce it to people that what they are using is experimental and that no trials have been carried out on it and that people must accept it as such,"said Lawrence.

One MS sufferer, a businessman from CoGalway, said he switched from Beta Interferon to LDN in early August and since then has experienced "a dramatic difference" in health.

"It got rid of my fatigue and my joint pain, and also re-moved weakness in my lower limbs," he said. "I can now work a full day and enjoy more time with my children, and life in general."

He urged the Department of Health to fund clinical trials and research of LDN, as it could save the state millions of euro every year.

Lawrence said he buys LDN from Dr Bernard Bihari, a practising neuro-physician based in New York, and then ships it to Wales for resale in Britain and Ireland.

"The only reason I can imagine why no further research or investigation has been done is that, because the drug is so relatively cheap, no drug company is interested in producing it or supporting the trials that will get it accepted as an approved treatment for MS. There is simply no potential for significant profit," he said.

Maura McKeon, spokeswoman for t he Mu ltiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland, said: "Until trials are carried out on it, we cannot advise people to try this particular product.Up to now,we have received only anecdotal evidence of its effects."


 

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