2 Quick Updates

1) We enrolled Cam in the ISIS 2 study and he passed the screening so he's in. This is a test of the effectiveness of inhaled hypertonic saline. It is a very safe but very time consuming study. The study is one year long and he has to nebulize a saline solution for 15 minutes twice a day. The real kicker is that his other two treatments, albuterol and pulmicort, now have to be done separate as part of the study. So, that means what used to take 15 minutes now takes 15+15+15 or actually a little over 45 minutes. Try to get a toddler to sit still with a nebulizer on his face for nearly an hour twice a day. Then throw in the fact that for the last 15 minutes he needs to wear his vest that shakes him up. This is going to be a long year. The other kicker is that it is a randomized trial with a control group. So, there's a chance he's in the control group that is nebulizing isotonic saline (0.9% salt) verses the hypertonic saline at (7.0% salt). I'm not saying it is for nothing, randomized trials are important and the control group serves a purpose. I just hope he's not in the control group (which I kind of suspect he is).

2) The generic supply of Pulmicort has finally dried up. Teva pharmaceuticals started making it last year and then got sued by Astra-Zenica. They then made a deal to license the drug and sell a generic version. The catch was that they could not make the generic until December 15th, 2009. In the mean time they could sell off whatever was already in the distribution chain. This all happened last November so we suspected the supply would dry up quickly. To our delight, Teva must have made massive quantities because we've been able to get the generic for almost a year now. I called today to get a refill and they said they were out so we'll have to go with the real deal. The reason this is important is that the generics are $10 while the name brands are $35. We save $300 a year on every generic for Cam. Hopefully we'll be back to the generics by January if they start up manufacturing again in December.

~Kirk