This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

OK so I just bought a 30 day supply of copaxone for 1,300.00.
I also found this study online. I can't afford copaxone everyday so I am doing the best I can and this study makes me feel like I'm not so far out there.

By Louise Gagnon

TORONTO -- April 17, 2010 -- Less frequent administration of glatiramer acetate (GA) is better tolerated and appears to have comparable efficacy to daily administration of GA in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), according to a pilot study presented at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).

"We want to see if there is a more patient-friendly dosing regimen from a patient perspective," explained principal investigator Omar Khan, MD, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan, speaking here on April 13 at an oral session. "In the past, we have shown that, when given every other day, glatiramer acetate may be potentially as efficacious and definitely better tolerated."

The dose for GA approved by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is 20 mg subcutaneously once daily. "We still don't know what the optimal dose is," noted Dr. Khan, adding that research to date fails to establish how much daily exposure to the drug is needed to induce its immunomodulating effects.

Patients in this study had already been receiving GA for 1 year on a daily basis, administered subcutaneously, and they were then randomised to continue receiving GA daily or to switch to twice-weekly GA. "The patients were already clinically stable in order to be randomised into the study," stated Dr. Khan, noting that a total of 48 RRMS patients, with a mean age of 36, were randomised into 2 groups with 24 patients in each arm.

Investigators recorded the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) every 6 months, and magnetic resonance imaging scans of the brain were conducted at baseline and at 2 years.

The annualised relapse rate, mean EDSS, proportion of relapse-free patients, and the proportion of patients without disease progression were comparable in the 2 arms at month 24. In addition, there were no significant changes in T2- or T1-weighted lesions, or in the percentage of brain volume change at month 24.

Lipoatrophy is one of the most common adverse events associated with a regimen of GA in MS patients. The study found a significant difference in the proportion of patients with lipoatrophy, experienced by 75% of those receiving daily injections; only 16.6% of those who received GA twice weekly had lipoatrophy. Similarly, 12.5% of patients who received daily GA developed systemic post-injection reactions, characterised as redness, swelling, or itching, while no patients in the twice-weekly arm did.

"Keep in mind that it is a relatively small data set," said Dr. Khan, noting that larger, randomised studies are needed to confirm the findings, and that MS patients who initiate GA therapy should start with daily dosing, since that is what is FDA-approved.

[Presentation title: Twice Weekly Versus Daily Glatiramer Acetate: Results of a Randomized, Rater-Blinded Prospective Clinical Trial and MRI Study in Relapsing-Remitting MS. Abstract S11.002]

http://www.docguide.com/efficacy-not-di ... mitting-ms

Hi,

I don't know what country your in but isn't there a scheme that stops you paying that much for a recognised treatment?
In Australia there is a group of medications that are heavily subsidised to help people who may be too ill to work.

Regards

All I can say is you really should watch the DVD by Michael Moore called SICKO.
This is the American health system and it SUCKS.
Sometimes we joke about moving to canada. I wonder what Australia would be like?