Clock Ticking for Psoriasis Drug Raptiva: On it? Get off!

May 29th, 2009. By admin

On Raptiva? Then the clock’s ticking. Your pharmacy will only give you a refill on your prescription till until Monday, June 8^th. While we’re happy that Genentech decided to voluntarily withdraw Raptiva from the market given the drug’s link to the deadly progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) infection, there’s one thing Genentech couldn’t take away: patients’ stress.

Think about it-you’re on Raptiva for psoriasis and you’ve been told that stopping Raptiva at once could either worsen your psoriasis or, worse yet, necessitate hospitalization. That’ll give you pause if you’re considering going cold turkey. But then again, you did receive that letter in the mail from Genentech advising you that you’ll need to stop taking it. Feeling caught between a rock and a hard place? You should be.

But before you stress yourself out even more, see your doctor first. You and your doctor need to come up with a plan to switch to another psoriasis treatment before coming off Raptiva. Beyond that (as if that isn’t enough), if you any questions about what recourse you may have as a result of being on Raptiva and being told you need to come off it pronto, you may want to ask a lawyer about your situation.

Tags: Psoriasis drug, Raptiva, Raptiva PML Brain Infection

This was posted on Friday, May 29th, 2009 at 8:38 am and is filed under Drugs/Medical . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.