The MS Wire

News, info and tips for living with multiple sclerosis

Category: Drugs

Website Reports How Much Money Your Doctor Gets from Drug Companies

Biogen, a pharmaceutical company that markets half a dozen MS therapies, is accused of paying doctors to prescribe its medications. A former Biogen employee claimed that the company paid fake consulting and speaking fees to doctors who prescribed Avonex (interferon beta-1a) and Tysabri (natalizumab) in 2009 and 2010. The company now faces a False Claims Act lawsuit in Massachusetts. Biogen also markets Fampyra (fampridine), Plegridy (peginterferon beta-1a), Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate), and Zinbryta…Continue Reading

We’ve Added an MS Medications Page

As I cruise around MS groups on social media I see a lot of questions involving MS medications. People want to know which meds are available to treat various symptoms. There’s also a lot of interest in comparing disease-modifying therapies, particularly the two newest: Ocrevus and Lemtrada. To help a little with this information search, I’ve added an MS Medications page to The MS Wire. You’ll see that the page…Continue Reading

Lemtrada: Hoping My Drip Stops Here

Lemtrada

I’m finished with my second round of Lemtrada (alemtuzumab). Hopefully, this will be the final round of this disease-modifying therapy (DMT) for me, and my final MS treatment of any kind. Though some have required more, most people treated with Lemtrada receive only two rounds. The first round consists of five infusions over five days. The second round, a year later, is three infusions over three days. If it works…Continue Reading

It Shouldn’t be This Hard to Get Our MS Medications

I got a phone call from my MS One to One nurse, Lynn, a few days ago. One to One is the patient support service provided by Sanofi Genzyme for patients on the biotech company’s MS disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) and Aubagio (teriflunomide). Lynn called to ensure that all of the paperwork was up-to-date and ready for my second round of Lemtrada infusions, which is scheduled to begin the…Continue Reading

Affording Your #MS Medications…or Not

Have you been in this Catch-22? You had great medical insurance when you were working. But, you’re not working anymore. Your insurance now comes with a $6,000 deductible and it no longer covers any medications. That $6,000 is about a fifth of your yearly income. You took early retirement because of your MS, but the pension you’re getting puts you over the limit to receive Medicaid help. You can’t get Social…Continue Reading

Heavy-hitting #MS Drugs Step to the Plate

I’m sitting in Florida and the start of spring training is only about a month from now, so please forgive a baseball analogy: The heavy-hitters of the MS-fighting treatments, the monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), are moving up in the lineup. Five treatments currently are in the mAbs class: Ocrevus, Lemtrada, Rituxan, Tysabri, and Zinbryta. (Rituxan isn’t approved as an MS treatment in the United States. Nonetheless, it’s being prescribed off-label by some neurologists).…Continue Reading

My Lemtrada Journey: A New Year’s Update

Happy new year to all. The start of the new year seems like a good time to assess what my journey has been like since my first round of Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) back in December 2016. The road has had bumps and hills and dips. But, overall, Lemtrada has taken me where I hoped it would — a place where my MS seems to be stable and my symptoms seem to be…Continue Reading

Flu Shot or No Flu Shot for MS Patients?

It’s that time of year again. The time of year where I keep seeing posts on MS social media sites asking, “should I get a flu shot?” In my honest opinion, yes, definitely! There are certainly different opinions about this, but I think that my opinion is the same as that of nearly any doctor that you’ll ask. For example, here’s a what a couple of doctors have to say…Continue Reading

Specialty Drugs Mean Specialty Prices

If you have MS, you’ve probably used a specialty drug. My first was Avonex, which I began to use about 1998. Several others followed. There’s no formal definition of a specialty drug, but these therapies have several things in common. First, they’re expensive. According to the vice president in charge of specialty drugs at CVS Pharmacy, the average monthly cost is $3,000. A CVS website article says that’s about 10…Continue Reading