The MS Wire

Insurer Sends Patients to Mexico to Find Less Expensive Meds

Posted on November 26, 2018November 25, 2018

MS medications are expensive in the United States. We all know that. We also know that less expensive meds can be found in places like Canada and Mexico. So, here’s a novel idea from the nonprofit health insurance provider PEHP, which covers state workers and their families in Utah: Pay those patients to buy their expensive meds south of the border. As Erin Alberty reports in The Salt Lake Tribune, the…Continue Reading

FTC Targets California Stem Cell Clinics

Posted on November 19, 2018November 17, 2018

“Deceptive” and “false” are two words used by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to describe marketing claims by two stem cell treatment clinics in California. According to an FTC complaint, the clinics had been advertising that they were using amniotic stem cell therapy to successfully treat serious diseases, including multiple sclerosis, autism, stroke, and heart attacks. The claims included one advertisement saying their treatment restored sight for a 101-year-old woman who had been…Continue Reading

I’m Too Tired to Write Tonight

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I’m too tired to write tonight. I wrote that several weeks ago after my wife had back surgery. I’d been doing a couple of things that I haven’t done much in the 42 years since our wedding: shopping and cooking. (Well, making Harris Teeter ready-to-heat meals, that is. For me, that’s cooking. So, I was too tired to write that night. On top of this, I’d been wrestling all day…Continue Reading

Flyers With a Disability May Get A Break if These Changes are Adopted

Posted on November 6, 2018November 5, 2018

Flying isn’t what it used to be, as everyone who’s taken a flight in the past 15 years or so knows. Flyers with a disability can have a particularly challenging time dealing with airports, airlines, and aircraft. Airports are crowded and stretch forever. Airplanes are crowded, their seats are small, and bulkhead seats are hard to nab. If you’re traveling with a scooter or a wheelchair, you look out the…Continue Reading

Can You Give Me a Lift to The Doctor?

Is getting from home to the doctor a pain in the butt for you? Do you have to search for someone to take you? Do you haul yourself into your car and hope that you can find a nearby parking spot? Is public transportation impossible to find where you live? It’s such a hassle that as many as 30 percent of patients may be skipping their medical appointments due to…Continue Reading

Are Patient Assistance Programs Threatened by Government Probe?

Posted on October 16, 2018October 16, 2018

Many of us have received help to pay for our MS medications. Now it’s possible that patient assistance programs, including copay help, could be threatened. A recent article in the The Wall Street Journal reports that U.S. government prosecutors are looking into whether some pharmaceutical companies’ patient assistance programs are on the wrong side of the law. These include direct copay assistance, donations to foundations that help patients pay for…Continue Reading

Serious Medications Need Serious Care Coordination

Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) is a serious disease-modifying therapy. It has the potential to deliver a major blow to a patient’s multiple sclerosis, but it also carries the possibility of severe side effects. The protocol for Ocrevus requires different doses on different infusion dates, following a specific treatment schedule. It’s also very expensive. This all shouts for the need for serious care coordination! Jamie’s care coordination problems I was concerned when Jamie, who…Continue Reading

The Big Wearable Trend in Health Care Tracking

Posted on October 1, 2018September 29, 2018

I never thought I’d want a wearable internet device until I got an Apple Watch for my birthday. One of its neat apps tracks the laps that I swim, the steps that I (try to) take, and my pulse rate. The watch can even link up with some high-tech exercise equipment to monitor my gym progress. A brand new version of the Apple Watch (the Series 4) came out just…Continue Reading

A Dating App for People with Chronic Illness

Posted on September 25, 2018September 24, 2018

Does your illness limit your ability to find a date? (Courtesy of Lemonayde) Dating isn’t a concern of mine, since I turned 70 earlier this month and have been happily married for 42 years. But, on the MS social media sites that I follow, younger, single folks regularly post concerns about starting relationships. Now there’s a dating app that might help make that social connection easier. It’s called Lemonayde. The dating…Continue Reading

Help Design a Mobility Scooter – Take a Survey

Posted on September 17, 2018September 16, 2018

I’ve been using a mobility scooter for about 15 years. I use it anytime I need to walk more than about half a city block. I throw it in the back of my SUV, I’ve taken it on planes and cruise ships (I’ve ridden it in 15 or 16 countries) and I even use it to walk the dog.. I have two scooters. One is lightweight at 35 pounds and can…Continue Reading

"People newly diagnosed with MS will truly benefit from this book, while those of us who’ve lived with MS for a while will wish we’d had it ourselves!…Neurologists should consider keeping a copy of this book in their waiting room because their patients are going to need it." - Tamara K. Sellman, reviewing for Multiple Sclerosis.net.

The Multiple Sclerosis Toolbox is designed for MS "newbies" but it's great info for everyone. I combine more than 40 years of living with MS with some easy to understand info about diagnosis, treatments, visiting the neuro, relationships, mobility aids, travel and more…a lot of what you get in this blog. A paperback and an e-book are available on Amazon.