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Biotech / Medical : Ligand (LGND) Breakout! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cheryl Galt who wrote (28423)	2/28/1999 3:02:00 PM
From: Cheryl Galt	Respond to of 32384

(Off Topic) Managed Care and verdicts of "experimental." When does a drug or procedure cease to be experimental? --- and hence covered by insurance policies?? More information -- another case, same story: MS patient [Susan Stross] progressing well after stem-cell transplant seattletimes.com Exerpts: Now Stross, 34, has some hope again. Now there is promise that after 15 years of a downward spiral with multiple sclerosis (MS), a stem-cell transplant will at least keep her stable. Seven months since her transplant at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center ... A former language teacher and competitive swimmer, Stross was among the first 30 MS patients in the world to receive a stem-cell transplant - a sort of bone-marrow transplant of her own cells ... Stross' insurance company also refused to pay. She considered taking legal action, but decided against it for fear the company might drop her coverage completely. Her parents footed the bill ... -------- The goal of a stem-cell transplant is simply to halt the nerve and muscle deterioration that comes with MS. But the procedure is having unexpectedly good results. Researchers reported (at a recent meeting in Basel, Switzerland), that of 43 patients receiving the treatment, 18 have improved, deterioration stopped in another 18, the disease worsened in four and three died from transplant complications. The procedure has stopped deterioration in 15 of 16 patients treated in the United States, including two at the Hutchinson Center, and some have shown slight improvement.