Last October the first sick mice were given this new drug to see if it helped relieve their symptoms. Unfortunately, there was no significant indication that it helped. At least it did not seem to harm the mice either.
After a while, the research team agreed to try higher dosages of this drug. A week ago we found out that the new dosage showed some obvious improvements in the mice. The researchers video taped several different experiments for us to see. This really was the profound improvement we had dreamed about!
While this is still a very premature conclusion, it's important to get working on the next steps to streamline the overall process. We're not even sure how to navigate the system to get compassionate access to this experimental drug.
Here in Canada, there is something called a "section 8" that we need from the government. It seems we'll need doctors' approval, hospital approval, and various layers of government approval. Anyone who can help us navigate this beaurocracy would be greatly appreciated. We'd especially appreciate help from people with strong ties to Toronto area hospital administration.
Of course, even with approval from the government, we'll still need to get some of the drug from the manufacturer. It's not even clear to me how to convince the pharmaceutical giant to part with this drug while it's still experimental. Again, any advice or contacts would be greatly appreciated.
Jacob will be five years old this May. We first found out about this drug three years ago. It took over a year before we were able to get a research project approved to use this drug. Now we're gated by the speed our mouse colony can reproduce. Please help us take as much time out of the process as possible. Jacob needs this to work.
1 comment:
Good post.
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