tara

August report
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/...in516500.shtml

Hans-Georg Michna

tara <[email protected]> wrote:

    >August report http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/07/26/national/main516500.shtml

That link leads somewhere else. The correct link is http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/08/29-
/national/main520273.shtml

Correct name of drug is Lariam.

Hans-Georg

--
No mail, please.

Barbara

tara <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
    > August report http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/07/26/national/main516500.shtml

Just for your info in Europe the cost for 12 tablets of Malarone is 42 Euro and you
have to take it daily starting 1/2 days before entering the malaria area and continue
for 7 days after having leaving it.

Liz

In message <[email protected] >
[email protected] (barbara) wrote:

    > tara <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:<[email protected]>...
    > > August report http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/07/26/national/main516500.shtml-
    > >
    > Just for your info in Europe the cost for 12 tablets of Malarone is 42 Euro and you
    > have to take it daily starting 1/2 days before entering the malaria area and
    > continue for 7 days after having leaving it.

*Not* all of Europe pays in Euros. Is this price *fixed* through all the countries
which have the Euro as their currency?

Liz

--
Virtual Liz at http://www.v-liz.co.uk Safaris
(Kenya and Tanzania); NEW: Kenya 2002 'rushes' now up "I speak of Africa and
golden joys"

Chessie

Interesting article...especially that other countries have stopped using Larium for
their military... In the US, once a drug has received FDA approval (which does
require testing and a search for side effects) there is really no good reporting
mechanism when individuals believe they have suffered side effects or adverse
effects. Many doctors dismiss these reports (after all, you can't PROVE that those
sleepless nights, or nightmares were caused by a drug... maybe they were a result to
jetlag...or that stomach distress was something you ate...) Further, it would
require that the doctor spend uncompensated time reporting these side effect reports
to the FDA. (And given the state of medical care in the US, this is JUST NOT GOING
TO HAPPEN-- unless someone dies! So it is no surprise that the officially "reported
incidence of side effects is low"--the system makes that almost a sure thing. Also--
the nature of these side effects may make it less likely that I as an individual
would even try to report side effects like mental disturbances. Don't want THAT in
your medical file, which is available to any health insurance company you seek
coverage from in the future. That could very likely be the basis for denying you
future coverage! I wonder if the difference in health care delivery in most European
countries makes it far more likely that side effects of medication get reported fully
and promptly.


Hans-Georg Michna <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>. ..
    > tara <[email protected]> wrote:
    > >August report http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/07/26/national/main516500.shtml
    > That link leads somewhere else. The correct link is http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/0-
    > 8/29/national/main520273.shtml
    > Correct name of drug is Lariam.
    > Hans-Georg

Karl Quies

"barbara" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]
om...
    > tara <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:<[email protected]>...
    > > August report http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/07/26/national/main516500.shtml-
    > >
    > Just for your info in Europe the cost for 12 tablets of Malarone is 42 Euro and you
    > have to take it daily starting 1/2 days before entering the malaria area and
    > continue for 7 days after having leaving it.

That is about the same cost as in Canada. I just enquired 2 days ago at my local
Pharmacy and was quoted CAD 60.00 per 12 tablets. I am curious what my U.S.A.
neighbours have to pay? Could someone post a figure.

Karl

C. Josef

Liz <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...

    > Is this price *fixed* through all the countries which have the Euro as their
    > currency?

No, the price is quite different from country to country. In Luxemburg you pay about
40 Euro for 12 tablets, in other countries it's as much as 55 Euro.

Chris

C. Josef

    > I wonder if the difference in health care delivery in most European countries makes
    > it far more likely that side effects of medication get reported fully and promptly.

I honestly doubt it.

Chris

Liz

In message <[email protected] >
c. [email protected] (C. Josef) wrote:

I asked...
    > > Is this price *fixed* through all the countries which have the Euro as
their currency?

    >No, the price is quite different from country to country. In Luxemburg you pay about
    >40 Euro for 12 tablets, in other countries it's as much as 55 Euro.

That's a relief - I thought for a terrible minute price fixing was an important part
of the Euro debate which I'd missed .....

In the UK, it seems to be the usual geographical lottery how much you pay for
privately prescribed vaccinations and malaria tablets - or indeed whether they can be
prescribed on the NHS.

Liz

--
Virtual Liz at http://www.v-liz.co.uk Safaris
(Kenya and Tanzania); NEW: Kenya 2002 'rushes' now up "I speak of Africa and
golden joys"

Leagil

    >That is about the same cost as in Canada. I just enquired 2 days ago at my local
    >Pharmacy and was quoted CAD 60.00 per 12 tablets. I am curious what my U.S.A.
    >neighbours have to pay? Could someone post a figure. Karl
I am in the US. I am going to the Kinshasa, DRC from Sept. 3 - 10. I was told by the
owner of the travel clinic that I went to that malarone was $6 a pill (!). Needing
15 pills, it would have cost me $90. I went back for a second visit (not speaking
with the owner) and was given a prescription for the drug. I found out that my
insurance covered it (unlike the gazillion $$ I paid for the immunizations) and I
ended up paying $5. Regards, Lea

Virginia Walters

I was just quoted $133 for 10 pills!! Of course, I am in Alaska where everything is a
little more expensive. I shopped around and all the pharmacies were in that ball park
for price.

Karl Quies

"virginia walters" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > I was just quoted $133 for 10 pills!! Of course, I am in Alaska where everything is
    > a little more expensive. I shopped around and all the pharmacies were in that ball
    > park for price.

Virginia, if you do not need the Malerone in a hurry try this place. http://www.canada-pharmacy.com/drug-price--
m.html

They deliver to the USA, but naturally you still need a prescription. 12 pills of
Mallerone for US$ 43.00 plus US$ 15.00 for shipping and handling. US$ 43.00 is
the equivalent Canadian cost plus a 10% markup.

Karl

C. Josef

Liz <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...

    > That's a relief - I thought for a terrible minute price fixing was an important
    > part of the Euro debate which I'd missed .....

Even the food at McDonald's has completly different prices in the different
countries of the Euro zone, although it's a lot cheaper than in the U.K. everywhere.
But then again McDonald's in South Africa is probably cheaper than anywhere else in
the world. And of course I can't stand McDonald's food anyway, but it's ideal for
taking Malarone since the drug should be taken together with fatty food or dairy
products! :-)

Chris

Javier GóMez-GarcíA

"Chessie" <[email protected]> escribió en el mensaje news:[email protected]
gle.com...

    > In the US, once a drug has received FDA approval (which does require testing and a
    > search for side effects) there is really no good reporting mechanism when
    > individuals believe they have suffered side effects or adverse effects.

Chessie,

Clinical trials are designed and programmed so that it is very unlikely that any
numerically significant side-effect or interaction will appear that has not been
detected during the trial phases. I know someone who swears that smoked ham causes
her somnolency, but I don't think this will be a milestone for modern pharmacology.

The testing and search for side effects you mention is usually a process that
takes up to 10 years and several million dollars to be completed, with no previous
guarantee that everything will go through. Neurophsychiatric side-effects have
already been reported for Lariam for a long time, and AFAIK ratios have not
changed significantly over the years (why should they?). The real problem, in the
end, is that even knowing about side-effects and their incidence, each potential
patient would ask, will one of those be me?, but no one can answer this question.
After all it's a
psychological game, many more people believe they will get the lottery than cancer.

Also, invariably the report of a certain effect raises the number of cases reported.
At least a number of these cases really corresponds to people thinking they are
developing symptoms they don't actually have. Of course, the same happens with
jet-lag you mention and lots of other stress causes. Oh, and I'm pretty sure that
special forces guys have some other stronger causes of stress than one or other of
the *legal* drugs they take.

Best,

pps- I don't use Lariam anyway.

--
------------------------------------------------------
Javier Gómez-García Editor www.kenyalogy.com
------------------------------------------------------

C. Josef

"Javier G mez-Garc a" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...

    > The testing and search for side effects you mention is usually a process that takes
    > up to 10 years and several million dollars to be completed, with no previous
    > guarantee that everything will go through. Neurophsychiatric side-effects have
    > already been reported for Lariam for a long time, and AFAIK ratios have not changed
    > significantly over the years (why should they?).

Before Lariam was licensed, not a single randomized, double-blinded field trial
performed on travellers was performed. In fact all studies at that time had severe
methodological shortcomings. The first propper study that was performed was actually
published in October 2001 - with 29% neuropsychiatric side-effects for Lariam
compared to only 14% in the control group that took Malarone. Before this study it
was often claimed Lariam had a side-effect profile almost identical with a placebo.
Of course as we know today, this is not true at all.

Christian