In a message dated 10/17/01 11:09:02 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
>"I don't know how Cipro got labeled in the first place as the drug of >choice," said Philip Hanna, an anthrax expert at the University of >Michigan. " Well, gee whiz, ya think it had anything to do with Cipro being owned by Farben one of the major players in the "hoodwinking of America. " The same company that tells you all the time that by taking an asprin a day will help your heart. It was once found that the taking of an asprin didn't do anything and Bayer was told to stop that line, but with a little time and lots of money Bayer got the ruling reversed. Ever think how much that little meme is worth - ( An asprin a day helps you survive heart attacks) ? The bloated greed of the multi-generational cult hoodwinking America is hideous. Om K
Cipro Is Not the Only Pill That Fights Anthrax By Shankar Vedantam Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, October 17, 2001; Page A20 Last week it was a medicine known only to doctors and patients who suffered from very private diseases, such as urinary tract infections or gonorrhea. Today, Cipro is famous as a treatment for anthrax. It is being fought over at pharmacies and bought at exorbitant markups on the Internet. So great is the demand -- and so widespread the fear of shortages -- that one U.S. senator has called on the government to lift patent laws and allow generic manufacturers to market millions of doses of the lifesaving medicine. Lost in the melee is the fact that Cipro -- or ciprofloxacin, as it is generically known -- is only one of several medicines approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat anthrax. Many of the others have been around for decades and cost less than a tenth as much. "I don't know how Cipro got labeled in the first place as the drug of choice," said Philip Hanna, an anthrax expert at the University of Michigan. "It's a great medicine for a number of different bacteria, but I don't know how it got labeled as the go-to medicine" for anthrax. Mohammad Akhter, executive director of the American Public Health Association, said four first-line treatments approved for anthrax are pencillin, tetracycline, erythromycin and chloramphenicol. "Everyone is using Cipro, but they are not using the guidelines" issued by public health authorities, said Trish Perl, an associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University's Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies. "You can look at the susceptibility [of a given anthrax strain] and see what medicines kill the organism. Pencillin and doxycycline are effective and have been used clinically." While Cipro may be more effective against some strains of anthrax that are naturally resistant to the other medicines or bio-engineered to be that way, it is not clear if any of the strains at the center of the U.S. anthrax scares are resistant to older medicines, such as penicillin and doxycycline. The FDA has specifically indicated Cipro against inhalation anthrax, which is the form that killed a Florida man earlier this month. "The U.S. Army recommends doxycycline and Cipro," said Akhter. If someone has been exposed to anthrax, Akhter said, it makes sense to start the person on Cipro before finding out whether the bug was also sensitive to penicillin or the other drugs. But Akhter, Perl and Hanna said that this did not mean the other drugs were "inferior" to Cipro in treating anthrax. Since anthrax is very rare, experts say, doctors' experiences in treating it are somewhat theoretical. No clinical trials, for example, have tested Cipro in people with anthrax; its current use is based on animal studies. Physicians have more clinical experience using penicillin against anthrax in humans. But such nuances have been lost as healthy people innundate doctors' offices with calls requesting prescriptions for Cipro. Many fear that pharmacies may run out of the medicine in the event of a disaster. "To have all of America on a wide-spectrum antibiotic would do more harm than anthrax would do," said William Hall, president American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine. Even putting Americans with flu-like symptoms, which are the first signs of anthrax, on Cipro would be disastrous, he said. "For every case of anthrax, there are a million or two million cases of garden-variety upper respiratory tract infection," he said. Putting people unnecessarily on antibiotics for colds and coughs would raise the risk of side effects and bacterial resistance, which could later make Cipro useless. But even before the anthrax scare, said Hall, there was a run on Cipro in New York City after the Sept. 11 attacks. Bayer Pharmaceuticals, which makes Cipro, said it was ramping up production. Karen Dawes, senior vice president for marketing, said Bayer's U.S. operation, which packages the drug after it has been manufactured in Germany, was "working 24-7" to increase production. She said that a new plant in Germany would begin production Nov. 1, and that the increased supplies would hit U.S. pharmacies later that month. In Washington yesterday, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that would not be enough. He issued a public appeal that the government suspend Bayer's patents and allow generic companies to add to the supply. "Within two-three months, it will give us an adequate supply even under a worst-case scenario," he said. "It will reduce costs from 50 to 75 percent, and it should alleviate people's fears so there should be less hoarding." Schumer said Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson would have to instruct the FDA to allow makers of generic drugs to manufacture Cipro. Thompson said he would look at the Schumer proposal on Cipro but doubted he could act. "Our lawyers do not believe I have the power or authority to do it," Thompson said, adding that it is not necessary anyway because the supply of antibiotics is ample and the government is capable of delivering the drugs wherever they may be needed on short notice. "We have enough antibiotics, including Cipro, to meet the needs of our country right now," he said. "No one should be under the impression that we do not have enough." Meanwhile, companies were selling Cipro on the Internet. "Our licensed physician, Dr. David Rothman, is recommending this prescription antibiotic as a method to protect yourself against an Anthrax Attack," said the Goodpills.com Web site, adding that 30 tablets cost $259 (or $8.63 a tablet), including shipping, handling, and consultation; 60 would cost $445, and 120 would cost $827. A Rite-Aid pharmacy in downtown Washington said the typical cost of a 20-tablet course for patients without insurance is around $130 (or $6.50 a tablet). "Let us suppose there are 100 cases of anthrax," said Rothman, a Miami doctor. "What happens if you go to the pharmacy and there is no Cipro? Your physician is not going to carry Cipro in his office. If you have it, you can start using it right off the bat." "The only purpose is to have it in an emergency only if your physician tells you take it," he said. "We don't want people to treat themselves for anthrax." Rothman, who is also a consultant for the Buy-Viagra-Discreetly.com Web site, declined to state his area of medical specialization. The Florida Department of Health identified him as an obstetrician-gynecologist. article is at <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5601-2001Oct16.html> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
