TYSABRI - AVONEX: "Sometimes, the alligators in the closet bite"....MORE
By Dana Snyder-Grant
Thursday, June 22, 2006
I tried not to pay attention last year to the controversy about the MS drug, Tysabri. The drug, a therapy for relapsing MS and other auto-immune diseases, was taken off the market in February 2005 after three people who had been taking the medication in clinical trials, developed PMI, a rare and often fatal brain disease. Two of them died, including one person with MS. This month, the FDA agreed to let Tysabri return to the market with closer monitoring. The testimonials of people with MS who were unable to tolerate other disease-modifying medications and the rarity of the fatal occurrences together, swayed FDA regulators. I wonder why I hardly attended to this debate. I generally remain informed about MS. Perhaps fear played a role.

I've been taking a different MS medication, Avonex - an interferon that counteracts the MS auto-immune response - since September 1997, but the decision to do so had not been an easy one......."