E-drug: Thalidomide, access and price (cont'd)
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On Thalidomide price and access,
While I think the careful case-by case patient control is a very good idea,
the price you mention is abusive, especially for patients with Hansens
Disease. We have seen new cases of in utero exposure due to insufficient
control of prescriptions for Hansen's disease in Brazil, so good case by
case control is warranted (as it would be for isotretinoin also). There are
three companies with registered thalidomide products in Brazil. Two
of them are state government owned laboratories that produce for the
Hansen's Disease program, - the Fundacao Ezequiel Dias in Belo
Horizonte and the Fundacao do Remedio Popular in Sao Paulo.
There is also a private company, Zodiac pharmaceuticals - it had a
number of medicines suspended in the late 1990s for insufficient
quality control and I don't know how things stand now. I don't know
if these could be alternative sources for you in Norway or for people
in other countries.
Best regards,
Lynn Silver
Adjunct Professor
Pharmaceutical Sciences
University of Bras�lia
(currently at IHCAR/Karolinska Institutet)
"Lynn Silver" <Lynn.Silver@phs.ki.se>
Access Essential Drugs Monitor #32 at http://www.who.int/medicines/mon/mon32.shtml
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