rense.com

Startling Facts About MS

By Ted Twietmeyer
tedtw@frontiernet.net
2-16-5
 
A member in my family has MS (Multiple Sclerosis.) Few people who don't have a family member with the disease can actually understand it. Contrary to common belief, people DO have PAIN with the disease. There are two common treatments, for this disease which has its roots in biowarfare research. Don Scott, a microbiology professor (ret.) in Canada has researched this for years, and traced it to the US Army at Ft. Dietrich, MD. The disease is worthless on the battlefield.
 
It was really designed for population control. Don Scott found that all those researchers involved in developing the disease died of micoplasma infections. By their own hand, since this it was the very pathogen they were developing that took their own lives. Using glove boxes while wearing environmental suits did not stop it- it's that virulent. In less concentrated form, one develops fibromyalgia, MS and other neuro-immune diseases. In a more concentrated form, one develops AIDS. Don Scott found conclusively that HIV is an opportunistic infection, and is NOT the cause of AIDS.
 
Some estimates put the number of people with MS at upwards of 10 MILLION. It is an incurable affliction, but considered 'manageable' using injectable drugs. The drug is shipped via FedEx overnight in an insulated container. It contains 30 preloaded syringes surrounded by several frozen gel packs. The packs keep the temperature of the medicine just above freezing.
 
One of the common injectable drugs for treating MS is Copaxone (calcium glatimer acetate.) Once a prescription is written by a neurologist after pronouncing an MS diagnosis, a patient can purchase it on-line from suppliers such as Chronimed or locally from a drugstore. We learned that most drugstores don't even stock it. Some drugstores have said that too few patients buy it, and it has a short shelf life measured in weeks.
 
Those individuals with MS on social services such as Medicaid, often cannot get this drug because of the high cost of treatment at $1030/month or more. We learned it is denied to patients in the UK (by socialized medicine doctors) because of cost. In fact, a patient can easily pay $1200/month through some drugstores. This monthly total cost doesn't include other medications that co-treat MS, and deal with some side effects of Copaxone. This can easily bring the total to more than $2000 a month, an expense which goes on FOREVER until the end comes.
 
Let's also focus on just Copaxone sales, a real gold mine. Out of curiosity, I looked at one account statement. One month's sequential number is subtracted from a previous month's shipment serial number to obtain the number of shipments.
 
Some of the resulting Chronimed totals of monthly Copaxone shipments are as follows. (Remember that the figures below do not include numerous other Copaxone sales outlets, such as from drugstores.)
 
January 2005 to February 2005: 18,146 shipments
December 2004 to January 2005: 30,063 shipments
November to December 2004: 22,023 shipments
 
We can average these to obtain a 3 month average of 23,411 shipments per month. We then multiply that figure by $1030.00 for a current patient's cost.
 
This result is a staggering monthly sales figure for Copaxone through Chronimed: $24,113,330.00.
 
Yes, you read that correctly.
$24 MILLION /MONTH for Chronimed's Copaxone sales.
 
This is a total of $289,359,960 in sales PER YEAR.
 
How many businesses you can think of that have sales figures like this? And just from selling a product that might cost Teva Pharmaceutical about $30 (or less) to manufacture, then selling it for more than $1,000?
 
Add all this expense burden onto an already ill MS patient, for a drug that IS NOT VERY EFFECTIVE. The proverbial rubbing salt in the wound, new millenium style.
 
According to the drug's efficacy fact sheet chart packed with the injections, Copaxone only slows MS progression (brain and/or spinal column lesion growth) by an average of JUST SEVEN PERCENT.
And it has side effects for a patient to deal with.
 
A physician once said that "A patient cured is a customer lost."
 
It must also be the credo of the pharmaceutical industry.
 
 
Comment
Jim Mortellaro
2-17-5
 
Some of this may be the result of a misunderstanding of Mr. Twietmeyer's article regarding MS. So if I am misinterpreting, please clarify.
 
First, my understanding of this essay is that the disease (or the treatment, this is not at all clear to me) has it's roots in biowarfare researched at Fort Dietrich, MD. Can't be. MS has been known for more than a century. It was Dr. Jean Martin Charcot who first scientifically described, documented and names the disease process we still call Multiple Sclerosis. This was in about 1843. Fort Dietrich was not engaged in such activity then. In fact, the land on which Fort Dietrich is located was nothing more than pooping grounds for critters. Do I have this wrong?
 
The disease was so named because of the many scars found widely dispersed throughout the nervous system, but are usually found to be widely arrayed in the cerebrum's lateral ventricles. In fact, it was originally called the "Creeping Paralysis" by Freud and referred to as a nervous disorder called "Female Hysteria." It was thought to be that MS was a man's disease because of the misdiagnosis used on women who exhibited the illness.
 
The myelin sheath which surrounds the nerve fibers in the body is eaten away, attacked by white blood cells which think the myelin is the enemy. It was in 1868 that Dr. Charcot gave a decent analysis of exactly what was happening.
 
Another mistake in this piece is that Copaxone has a short shelf life measured in weeks. Not so. Copaxone will keep in the fridge for about a year. And it will keep outside the fridge for up to a month for those who travel and must take the medication. It is not stocked because it's too damned expensive, not because of poor shelf life.
 
Comment is also made in this essay about the 'side effects' of Copaxone. But there are NO side effects except one. And that side effect does not affect most people. In addition, that side effect is ONLY after the first shot. It is called, Anaphylactic Shock and will exhibit only on first application. A treatment with an EpiPen will take care of that, as subsequent shots will NOT exhibit shock. The number of patients who suffer AS are very few.
 
Twietmeyer writes that the treatment with Copaxone is not effective. Wrong. Whilst the stats say 7%, this medication is NOT meant for all. Only for those with relapsing remitting MS. Not Chronic Relapsing MS. As a result of the definition and real life effects of remitting relapsing MS, one can NEVER know how many of the people who have had exacerbations will actually have MORE exacerbation's. So the 7% is a very conservative number.
 
The reason I know these things is that my own wife has MS. She was diagnoses in 1993 after suffering ten or more years of strange, undiagnosable symptoms which were NOT necessarily neurologic and not at all related (one would assume) to MS. But now that there is a diagnosis, it is only obvious that all those symptoms were actually signs of the disease. After the fact.
 
MS is a very difficult disease to diagnose in it's early stages. Most doctors won't send you to a neurologist for say, Rosacia. But it is an immune disorder and is sometimes related to MS. So people go long periods of time without a diagnosis. No one's fault actually.
 
I therefore take exception to what I know to be inaccurate information in this essay. At the very least, one with a relation who has MS should be a lot more accurate in defining it for those who are worried about it or about choosing a medication. It is bad enough that this miserable illness is difficult to diagnose and live with, but to give inaccurate information is really the pits.
 
Jim Mortellaro
 
 

Rebuttal to Mortellaro's remarks

on http://www.rense.com/general63/ms.htm
 
From Ted Twietmeyer
2-17-5
 
Jim -
 
I do not have the facts wrong. Check out the work of Don Scott, who spent some 10 years investigating the disease. The US army created mycoplasmas by encasing a bacterium with a protein coat, making it invisible to the body. When this infects the body, the toxins from the bacteria do the damage. Scott has the NIH documents and will send them to anyone for a modest copying charge. I have spoken to Don Scott on the phone in an hour long phone call which he was kind enough to do at his expense, and know the story well. He only bases his statements in facts.
 
Copaxone DOES have numerous side effects, including swelling at the injection site, temporary elevated pulse rate, pain and others. Some people can't tolerate it, others can. I've watched the Copaxone treatment FIRST HAND for my wife too, every DAY for 3 years Jim. I know what I'm talking about. If your wife is on it, then read the data sheet for the side effects.
 
The neurologist for my wife does admit the observed efficacy is approximately the same as what the data sheet for the disease states it is. Everyone we know on it doesn't get all that better from it.
 
And even though it may have existed "in the wild" before the Army's work, it is unsound and scientifically inaccurate to state they also didn't create their own strain of it, which they did. Check out NIH Report # 9. Don Scott saved that one and another from the shredder, and will send you a copy as stated above. Pensicola Florida was the testing city, according to the documents he obtained. 2 million sterile mosquitos were bred at the university of Ottawa, Canada and infected at Ft. Deitrich. They loaded into a special van with remote controlled vents, and the truck was driven down main street in Pensicola in the middle of the night. Then the population was tracked for disease progression. It probably still is today.
 
As for shelf life outside refrigeration, it is not that long. In fact, one number we were told was about 48 hours at room temp. If it was as long as you state, why would they bother to pack in icepacks ? Another inaccurate statement on your part. It is true that the expiration date is 12 months.
 
I'll also correct my own spelling error that you missed. It is "glatiramer," not "glatimir."
 
Before you publicly assault me next time, get all your facts straight before you label my writings "innacurate."
 
Ted
 
 
 
Comment
Jim Mortellaro
2-18-5
 
Rebuttal Startling Facts About MS
 
With Mr. Rense' permission, allow me to correct much of the rebuttal.
 
MS has been diagnosed since the mid 1800's. No matter how much dickering around may have occurred at Fort Dietrich. The essay conveyed the impression that his disease was recently hatched by the government. Now that is the only area where I believe I may have misconstrued your meaning. But your words are certainly not clear in their content.
 
However ... Beta Interferon and ALL it's iterations, meaning every single medication, EVERY ONE, prescribed for MS has side effects and these are far worse than injection site reactions which occur in nearly all injections, not merely preparations for MS.
 
God man, Copaxone has the LEAST side effects of ALL the MS preparations put together. Simple fact.
 
As for it's efficacy, let's analyze that. Say the relapsing remitting MS patient has one or two exacerbation's per year. Just for purposes of this discussion. Let's all agree that the same patient may NEVER have another exacerbation again, or that the exacerbation's may increase (which is more likely) or remain the same.
 
Point is, no one knows what the relapsing remitting patient will experience. Therefore, one cannot possibly analyze the efficacy in real numbers and percentages of Copaxone. Suffice to say however, that Copaxone does work and has the least side effects. In my own wife's case, not one exacerbation in about 7 years.
 
An example, Beta Interferon One B was given once every two days and now replaced with another med (which name escapes) given once per week. The day after the shot is given, nearly every patient will become ill with flu like symptoms. People usually schedule the shot the day before their day off from work. With Copaxone, this is unnecessary. You don't become ill with the drug.
 
Heart rate, temporary elevated pulse (same thing) is nothing when compared to the other meds which are injectible. Dammit, it is crucial that the information conveyed is accurate to this degree. Someone may be interested in Copaxone, someone who may be helped by it. But reading this essay may very well be chased away from taking it. The best advice is none at all. This should be given in all cases by a qualified neurologist. Not me. Not you. I merely correct the inadequacies in the piece. This is NOT a public crucifixion. It is at worst, a clarification of facts which are either inaccurate, wrong or convey the wrong impression.
 
Jim Mortellaro





Disclaimer






MainPage
http://www.rense.com


This Site Served by TheHostPros