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MAC & Bronchiectasis | Last Active: Oct 29 5:15pm | Replies (9350)Comment receiving replies
Replies to "If we have this information maybe we can compile it in a letter to the companies..."
druginfo@fda.hhs.gov I just wrote to FDA. Told them they probably have people on their staff that have mac and don't know it
@unicorn love it! will use it in my email as well!
cool. love it
OK...here's what I wrote:
Almost 1M Americans have MAC or some other NTM…a number that is growing rapidly (in fact, some of your staff most likely have the infection and don’t know it…for most, dx comes when the infection is far along). Since it is transmitted through water and soil, and is no longer limited to those who are immunocompromised as it once was, it is quickly becoming a public health threat. If there were a reporting requirement for NTM’s as exists for TB, I feel confident the numbers would be perhaps double those cases currently known.
The US is grossly underprepared for such a wide-spreading, as the current treatments (large amounts of antibiotics taken by mouth) are both 20 years old, and increasingly less effective – not to mention their toxicity and extreme side effects. Clinical trials for new, inhaled (thus direct), and more effective treatments are found as far away as Israel, yet little is being done here.
Please don’t wait until it gets to epidemic proportions to encourage research on and approve better treatments. Pharmaceutical companies will find plenty of customers, and you will have gotten ahead of this rather than simply reacting once it’s too late.
Thank you.
Terri Benincasa
great great letter!!! So smart
Excellent!
@boomerexpert Thanks for sharing the email with us, Terri. I was just wondering how I could get mine started. This will help me get my thoughts together.
@ling123 glad!
One dr told me its lack of progestrone really could believe he would say that
Chris Miller is the guy that accepted me into the canadian trial, but had to drop out because our insurance does not cover canada. lHe's a nice guy, but said his partners were nervous about the lack of coverage. Canadian are not wanting to cover Americans anymore, because we keep sneaking across the border to get free health care, who knew....