More Restrictions Placed on Multiple Sclerosis Sufferers Who Wish to Receive Lemtrada Treatment

Europe's medical supervisors now require that Lemtrada patients receive hospitalization from the first moment they start infusions

Friday, November 15, 2019 - The European Medicines Agency, the European Union's watchdog governing drug safety, has issued an emergency advisory telling doctors that anti-multiple sclerosis drug Lemtrada should only be administered to patients within hospitals with an available intensive care unit (ICU), not exactly the cheery, optimistic vote of confidence RRMS sufferers were looking for. Restrictions had been in place prior to the announcement limiting people with relapse-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) to taking the drug solely as a last resort and only after two or more other drug therapies had been attempted. Multiple sclerosis patients must have suffered two disabling relapses in the previous 12 months before Lemtrada can be prescribed. Doctors and patients in the United States and elsewhere are required to enroll in a Lemtrada RRMS management plan to make sure that the doctor knows and the patient is advised that Lemtrada is so toxic that treatments could result in spontaneous strokes and instant death. Secondly, for those that survive the treatment and are enjoying Lemtrada's tremendous benefits, a questionnaire must be filled out and signed and submitted to the FDA concerning the patient's prior and ongoing medical history to watch closely for any sign of side effect. The EMA has gone a step further to require that doctors only treat patients in hospitals where emergency medical personnel and equipment are present and available. Yet in spite of these dire warning patients continue to be happy with the outcomes of their Lemtrada treatments. The EMA's move is being criticized by physicians as crossing the line and taking the responsibility for recommending RRMS treatments away from the doctor and the patient and putting it in the hands of the government as well as effectively denying many patients from Lemtrada treatment. The EMA has countered that it is just doing everything possible to minimize the drug's risks to patients. Lemtrada attorneys representing families in the United States offer a free no obligation consultation before filing a lawsuit claim.

Multiple Sclerosis News Today reports "rare and serious complications from taking Lemtrada including deaths related to immune complications and heart or circulatory disorders, adverse reactions that normally occur within 24 hours from initiating a Lemtrada drip treatment. Alemtuzumab (Lemtrada), a monoclonal antibody that destroys a protein found in the immune system, is given to patients with RRMS in once per year over a five day period for two consecutive years. A third treatment may be administered if necessary in rare circumstances. Lemtrada patients have died from a heart attack, stroke, and a weakened immune system. RRMS patients feel, however, that taking Lemtrada is worth the risk as the drug has been proven to increase the intervals between RRMS attacks and also lessen their severity, in effect making their lives livable again.

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