![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by iforgotmypassword on November 8, 2007, at 17:59:06
i'm very happy. it has arrived at my doctor's office, in surprisingly mass quantity. i pick it up at my appointment tomorrow at 10. my doctor was able to get it approved for me through Canada's federal "Special Access Programme."
this came really quickly, considering his direct correspondance with the company's branch (Sanofi-Aventis) in Laval (i'm on Ottawa) was earlier this week.
initially, along with the programme's approval of the drug, they sent this strange letter asking for my doctor to accept the documented cardiac/sudden risks associated with the drug, which he found a little disconcerting and was reluctant to go forward with prescribing the drug without further information. no sources were cited in the letter. later, research both me and my doctor found completely disagreed with the letter, saying amisulpride is among the antipsychotics with the least cardiac risk and AP associated cardiac effects, and no deaths have ever been reported (except in overdose, as i found in other articles.)
i certainly find the existence of the letter suspicious... drug company marketing-government drama? or north american psychiatric lack of sympathy for negative symptoms or dysthymia, etc. (seen more as character faults,) or an innocent lack of research and a letter that goes with any unapproved antispychotic asked for... who knows?
anyway, that's all i have to share for now. looking forward.
Posted by Phillipa on November 8, 2007, at 18:11:13
In reply to picking up 6 months supply of amisulpride tomorrow, posted by iforgotmypassword on November 8, 2007, at 17:59:06
Well good luck to you. I know you have researched the med and hope you do well. Phillipa
Posted by kaleidoscope on November 9, 2007, at 11:51:37
In reply to picking up 6 months supply of amisulpride tomorrow, posted by iforgotmypassword on November 8, 2007, at 17:59:06
Hi IFMP,
That's good news that your got the amisulpride. I hope you find it helpful.
About the letter....
Whenever a doctor prescribes a drug which is not approved in their country, the doctor (and not the manufacturer) has to take legal responsibility for any toxicity which may occur. Basically, if you had a serious cardiac arrhythmia, the resposibility would lie with your psychiatrist. This is why the manufacturer wanted to make sure that your doctor was aware of the risks, however small.
In countries where amisulpride is approved, such as the UK, it comes with a cardiac warning.
Here is the UK warning......
Amisulpride induces a dose-dependent prolongation of the QT interval.
This effect, known to potentiate the risk of serious ventricular arrhythmias such as torsades de pointes is enhanced by the pre-existence of bradycardia, hypokalaemia, congenital or acquired long QT interval.
Hypokalaemia should be corrected.
Before any administration, and if possible according to the patient's clinical status, it is recommended to monitor factors which could favour the occurrence of this rhythm disorder:
- bradycardia less than 55 bpm,
- hypokalaemia,
- congenital prolongation of the QT interval.
- on-going treatment with a medication likely to produce pronounced bradycardia (< 55 bpm), hypokalaemia, decreased intracardiac conduction, or prolongation of the QTc interval
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.