April 28, 2015

In a recent study published in Neurology, Dennis Bourdette, M.D., professor and chair of neurology, OHSU School of Medicine, joined his Oregon State University colleague and co-author Dr. Daniel Hartung in examining the accelerating cost of drugs to slow and treat multiple sclerosis.

The study urges neurologists to speak out about "unsustainable and suffocating drug costs for people with MS." “We’ve been silent about this and so has our national organization and the national MS Society,” Bourdette said. “We’ve been silent about it as a group, maybe in part because we’ve had a cozy relationship with the pharmaceutical industry.”  Read OHSU prof: Neurologists need to speak out about 'suffocating' drug costs

More

Drug cost mystery: older multiple sclerosis medicines skyrocket despite competition (The Oregonian)

Generic Version of Copaxone, Multiple Sclerosis Drug, Is Approved (New York Times)

How Much Would You Pay for an Old Drug? If You Have MS, a Fortune (Bloomberg News)

Multiple Sclerosis Drug Prices Rose at an 'Alarming' Rate: Study (The Wall Street Journal)