Hi Steve,

Are you suggesting I personally raise $120,000 for a clinical trial?

Great idea, but I'm not sufficiently resourced to undertake such a major project in the public interest.

I'm unemployed. My biggest concern at present is whether I'll be able to pay my looming website hosting bill.

If you have the answers, I'm a willing and open listener.

cris

email me bimini2@bigpond.net.au I will let this thread get back to the circular arguement on stem cell stuff.

The idea that low dose Naltrexone therapy for a wide range of conditions is not investigated because of patent expiry is total nonsense. As an example, consider the drug Thalidomide: It's patent for the treatment of morning sickness is long expired, yet its patent for the treatment of multiple myeloma is still active. Conducting clinical trials for a drug approved to treat other conditions would be far cheaper than developing and testing a new drug.

A drug patent is granted for a proven efficacy of a substance in the treatment of a specific medical condition. The fact that a substance may have an expired patent for another therapeutic use is not relevant.

Hi Fester,

You're correct.

The issue isn't about patents, it's about regulatory approvals.

Naltrexone is a TGA and FDA 'approved treatment' for dependence at doses around 50mg.

Naltrexone is not an 'approved treatment' for auto-immune disorders - even though it's only being applied in small doses up to 4.5mg.

Safety and efficacy HAVE been successfully achieved in the doctor's surgery - in clinical practices in the USA, in England, in Ireland, in Germany, etc, and even Australia - but the success being achieved in a broad range of autoimmune disorders is not recognized because it is not supported by university studies or clinical trials (with the exception of some early results on specific disorders such as Crohn's - as stated earlier).

The issue is that the treatment involving Low Doses of Naltrexone (LDN) will never be offered as an option to patients, even if all other avenues have been investigated and have failed.

If a patient wishes to try LDN as a treatment option, they must first be aware of the treatment, and they must then physically ask their doctor to prescribe the treatment.

This is inequitable and unjust to those who are unaware of LDN as a treatment option for their condition.

The bigger picture is that there may be many more stories similar to the LDN story.

the nazi german goverment dehumanized jews and used them in science experiments.

we are simply dehumanizing embryos and using them in science experiments.

im sure if an amazing cure was found by the nazi scientists they would have been vidicated for using 'a means to an end' type approach.

i am not an advocate for suffering and do not stand on high, religious moral ground - i stand for basic human rights.

we have all passed through many stages in life.. and ALL of us have at one stage been an embryo. we have the right to start life. we dont have the right to take it away.

Fester

Celgene owns the patent for Thalidomide, now called Thalomid for ALL uses. Use of thalidomide in cancer therapy has allowed Celgene to raise the price of Thalomid from $6.00 to $29 per 50-mg capsule between 1998 and 2004. A 100mg capsule used to sell in Brazil for 7 cents.

Celgene made US$370 million from Thalomid sales last year. This sucks.

Its analog Revlimid costs $10,000 per course of treatment and is in clinical trials for 34 different diseases. 22 people died in the phase II trial of Revlimid in Multiple Myeloma.

Cris I haven't forgotten I'll get back to you real soon.