I'm pretty frustrated with the state of medical science in relation to Vasculitis. There is a girl out there, fighting for her life right now in an ICU because her doctors did not know enough about the protocol for treating Vasculitis that they put her in a coma.
Imuran wasn't working so they switched her to methotrexate which she was only on for 6 weeks before they decided to take her off and give her Mercaptopurine. This form of chemo is not even approved for treatment of Vasculitis, unlike Rituxan which is the most obvious choice and the current go to drug for ANCA assoiciated Vasculitis.
Now, the big warning on Mercaptopurine is this
"Mercaptopurine is a potent drug. It should not be
used unless a diagnosis of acute lymphatic leukemia has been adequately
established and the responsible physician is experienced with the risks
of Mercaptopurine and knowledgeable in assessing response to
chemotherapy." (http://www.drugs.com/pro/mercaptopurine.html)
Because they didn't even apparently know about Rituxan I am pretty sure that her doctors were not knowledgeable about any form of chemotherapy.
This is why education and awareness is so important.
No comments:
Post a Comment