One day we got a letter from a patient's mom. The patient had contracted cytomegalovirus (CMV) pneumonia and was in a terminal coma. His doctors had given him maybe 36 hours to live. They (the doctors) got permission to try one of our drugs on a compassionate use basis (If I remember, it was still only in Phase II clinical trials at the time).
The upshot was they infused the drug, the patient recovered, and six weeks later had gained back thirty pounds and had returned to work. Our drug almost literally brought him back from the dead.
Here's another (different drug this time);
We got a letter from a man who had been bedridden for years with arthritis. His doctor prescribed our new drug (had just been FDA approved). He said that within three days he was up and around and cook his own meals. (Think about that for a minute.)
One further rant:
If people think drug companies are making obscene profits, they should try starting one themselves. Either they could get very rich, or they could make drugs dirt cheap. But one notices, they don't.
True enough. Some drugs really are life savers. Some aren’t.
http://lamplightersoftware.com/dsm.php
Put GSK’s Paxil in the search box. Numbers are only from Jan 04-Nov 09
Note the attempted and completed suicides.
Paroxetine Reported By
Adverse Reaction Cases MD CN OT PH LW NR
Suicidal Ideations 1,837 1,281 1,176 189 50 401 160
Attempted Suicides 786 592 522 121 89 151 48
Completed Suicides 921 616 474 78 34 631 51
Deaths Not From Suicide 238 141 131 21 19 4 33
Homicidal Ideations 136 53 144 28 11 22 4
Homicides 78 23 66 3 0 17 11
Hypomania/Mania 297 189 210 29 15 9 17
Heart Disease 1,149 432 1,436 1,236 595 381 48
Movement Disorders 2,273 1,207 1,416 237 129 468 163
Birth Defects 2,154 446 2,895 1,378 631 407 57
Premature Births 121 74 103 158 71 14 11
Prenatal/Neonatal Deaths 153 65 105 17 17 14 9
$3 Billion dollar Settlement with US Govt.
http://www.gsk.com/media/pressreleases/2011/2011-pressrelease-710182.htm
Obscene profits. What’s the price of your son or daughter hanging themselves?
Is that Obscene?
We got a letter from a man who had been bedridden for years with arthritis. His doctor prescribed our new drug (had just been FDA approved). He said that within three days he was up and around and cook his own meals. (Think about that for a minute.)
What was the name of that drug?