The Most Cost-Effective MS Drug Is the One That Works

A couple of weeks ago, I was honored to emcee the annual Living Well With MS conference for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland. Day one was for medical professionals, and day two was attended by the MS community. The presenters and topics for both days were the same, with only a little medical jargon changed for the second day’s presentations.
In his presentation (video available here), Gavin Giovannoni, PhD, spoke of the importance of saving the brain’s cognitive reserves — at least in part by treating multiple sclerosis early and aggressively.
One of the things that struck me from his talk was the comment, “The most cost-effective MS drug is the most effective MS drug.”
When I tweeted that quote and posted it on Facebook, many people asked which drug that is. The thing is, it’s not any one of the 14 approved MS disease-modifying drugs. It’s all about finding the most effective drug for you.
‘No Evidence of Disease Activity’
Many of us in the Life With MS blog community have been living with this disease for quite some time. When I was diagnosed, there were just three approved drugs. Now, as I stated, there are 14, with more in the pipeline and some even available for “compassionate use” before they are approved.
When I started on my first injections, the best result we could hope for was a reduction in exacerbations. The thing was, of course, that we had no way of knowing whether we were having fewer exacerbations on the meds than ...

Source: Life with MS - October 19, 2016 Category: Neurology Authors: Trevis Gleason Tags: multiple sclerosis MS Around the Globe MS Cure MS treatment multiple sclerosis clinical trials Source Type: blogs