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Gilenya Approval Tests — The battery of tests begins!

Some good news in my quest to start Gilenya – which is really starting to feel like a quest for the holy grail. I’ve written previously about my hopes for Gilenya and of my frustrations with the slow process. On the day I ceased Rebif I also saw a gastroenterologist for my elevated liver enzymes. The tally so far is $800 for the consult, $600 for the results, and forthcoming bills for some blood tests and an abdomenal ultrasound. Results are that I am clear of all liver diseases – he seemed disappointed. With the liver investigation closed, I am set to begin the Gilenya approval tests required by my neurologist, by my insurance provider, and by Novartis.

Are Neurologists Pushing Tysabri? — Tysabri : A picture is worth $6900!

It was a dark and stormy night. The hospital corridors were abandoned and echoing with every step. There was a suspicious lack of signage directing individuals to the basement seminar. I had no idea that I had registered for an evening of neurologists pushing Tysabri onto a room full of medicare patients.

My parents assured me that although they’ve gone to many MS events they had never been to a spectacle like this before.

Last night I trekked down to the basement of a hospital branch one county away to attend an MS event my parents had alerted me to called Dialogue of Hope and Health. I can’t deny that I was hoping that the “hope” in the title of the event referred to the new oral medications soon to be available (at least in other countries) or perhaps stem cell developments. It turned out to be something between a sales pitch and damage control conducted by a local neurologist and some Tysabri sales reps.