Posted on 02/19/2024 3:21:55 PM PST by nickcarraway
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug to help people with food allergies in the event they are accidentally exposed.
It’s called Xolair, and it’s been used to treat asthma for two decades. Now, it has a new use.
News4JAX spoke to a local mom Monday who said her 9-year-old daughter, Catherine, ended up in the hospital last year after having an allergic reaction to a pecan on Thanksgiving.
“It gave me hives. And um I think made me stop breathing for a little,” Catherine said.
Catherine said it wasn’t scary for her. But it was for her mom, Wendy Sellars.
“She’d never been exposed to pecans. So she ate it. And then she just went off. Within 15 minutes, she couldn’t breathe,” Sellars said.
Now, Xolair is promising to lower the risk of such severe reactions.
In a study, 168 adults and children aged 1 and older who are allergic to peanuts were given the drug over several weeks. Then, they were given the equivalent of two-and-a-half peanuts and 68% did not experience moderate to severe symptoms after that.
What are the top 9 allergens? Watch the video below to find out:
News4JAX turned to Dr. Sunil Joshi for analysis. He has more than 20 years of experience. He’s a partner at Family Allergy & Asthma Consultants, and is also the City of Jacksonville’s Chief Health Officer.
“I mean, it is a pretty big deal. It doesn’t mean that the child or the adult who has a food allergy can just go eat whatever they’re allergic to. What this does is it helps protect them potentially from accidental exposure,” Joshi said.
But a major sticking point is cost.
Dr. Joshi said the medication can cost between $2,000 to $5,000 a month without insurance.
Now, he said the negotiations will begin with insurance companies about coverage.
“Most of these companies do have coupon programs, rebate programs that make it a little bit less expensive for the patients, especially private insurance plans have that. And so if you have a child that’s in a situation with one or more food allergies, and you’re interested in this, I would strongly suggest you talk to your allergist about it and see what they think about whether or not this would be worth pursuing,” Joshi said.
Sellars said this medication is something she will be looking into.
“That medicine you were talking about would be great for a family like us, because we don’t know what we don’t know. And it’s really uncomfortable to walk around letting her try things,” Sellars said.
The drug is meant to be administered by injection every two to four weeks.
Dr. Joshi said there can be irritation at the site of the injection, and there’s also a chance of an allergic reaction to the drug itself. He said that’s most likely within the first three injections, so it’s recommended the drug is used at a medical provider’s office.
Ping
food allergy? DON’T EAT THAT FOOD! save money on medical poisoning.
Epi pens still cost less
Everything can cost thousands without insurance. Everything can cost thousands WITH insurance. Obama care destroyed the industry. Insurance is crap. I’m fighting it right now with sever foot pain that has left me unable to walk without sever pain on crutches.
So you can’t eat food because of allergies and you can’t afford rd to buy food because the allergy meds suck up all your money
Its more so they eat something by accident or unknowingly, mentally stable people with food allergies don’t deliberately eat food they know they are allerfic to.
People with food allergies DO avoid the foods they are allergic to, trust me on that one. Been there, done that.
The big problem is accidental exposure.
Besides, Xolair has been used for asthma for years. It’s also been approved for use for hives and is actually safer for people with hives than asthma.
And FWIW, based on a source I know told me the truth that I will not disclose, it does not cost them NEARLY that much to manufacture. The manufacturer is really cleaning up on the medicine.
The cost does not change, only who pays for it changes.
Seems immoral to dangle a treatment of some sort in front of those that might need it, and then say it costs thousands per month?
And then the game is played over whether insurance will cover it.
Ok, they cover it, and our premiums go up. Who are the winners here?
Just eat Ramen. No one is allergic because it’s not really food…
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