March 17, 2020 News by Larry Luxner TV Personality Montel Williams Launches ‘My MS: Second Act’ A little over 20 years ago, Montel Williams learned once and for all that he had multiple sclerosis (MS). But that determination should have happened long before then, said the well-known TV personality — who’s made fighting the neurodegenerative disease his life’s mission. Williams, 63, was the star attraction…
March 28, 2019 News by Larry Luxner MS Patient Groups React Favorably to Mayzent Approval, But Question Therapy’s Price Tag National organizations that represent patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) welcome the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s March 26 approval of Novartis’ oral therapy Mayzent (siponimod) — but they complain that, at $88,500 per year, the treatment is overpriced. The Multiple Sclerosis Society of America (MSSA) is clearly upbeat about the…
March 10, 2019 News by Larry Luxner MS Patients Share Their Stories at NYC Event Featuring Montel Williams After months of preparation with storytelling experts, three ordinary Americans with multiple sclerosis (MS) took the stage in New York late last year to share their MS journeys. The three joined TV personality Montel Williams at an event inaugurating My MS: Second Act, a joint effort co-sponsored by…
February 15, 2019 News by Larry Luxner Newly Published NMSS Study Confirms Nearly 1 Million Americans Have MS It’s finally official: Around 900,000 Americans and quite possibly more than that have multiple sclerosis (MS) — easily double the long-accepted figure of 400,000. Since MS News Today first reported on this finding in November 2017, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) study, which reached that conclusion, has…
February 7, 2019 News by Larry Luxner Medical Marijuana ‘Can Help Everyone,’ Says Director at Maryland Cannabis Facility Warning the reporter accompanying him not to take any pictures, veteran horticulturalist Michael Castleman punches an electronic code and unlocks the door to Room 209, nicknamed the “Mother Room.” Photography is indeed forbidden inside this living vault, which contains 20 phenotypes of cannabis plants thriving under the glare of 25…
January 14, 2019 News by Larry Luxner Provocative Film Explores Love and Sexuality Among the Disabled Dozens of films have focused on those with diseases or disabilities — and there’s no shortage of Hollywood productions about love and sex. But only a handful have ever really tried to combine these two themes. “Take a Look at This Heart” does the job with tenderness and finesse.
June 6, 2018 News by Larry Luxner Canada Trails US in Patient Access to Rare Disease Therapies, CORD President Says Canada’s healthcare system is excellent for people with common ailments like diabetes or high blood pressure, but it’s “basically failing the nearly three million Canadians with rare diseases.” So says Durhane Wong-Rieger, president and CEO of the Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders (CORD), a Toronto-based network representing 102 patient advocacy…
April 17, 2018 News by Larry Luxner 5 MS Patients Across US Talk About How Ocrevus Has Changed Their Lives It’s been a little over a year since U.S. regulators approved Genentech’s Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) as the first treatment for both relapsing and progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) — a disabling neurological disease now believed to affect nearly one million Americans. While the jury’s still out regarding the therapy’s…
March 28, 2018 News by Larry Luxner Ocrevus a Year After Approval: Views of Some MS Experts A year after U.S. regulators approved Genentech’s Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) as the first treatment for both the relapsing and progressive forms of multiple sclerosis, a prominent neurologist involved in the Phase 3 clinical trials that led to its authorization says it has been beneficial for some MS patients. But it’s simply…
November 21, 2017 News by Larry Luxner Rare Disease Patient Groups Unite to Preserve Orphan Drug Tax Credit in US The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) says it’s “disappointed and dismayed” after the House of Representatives voted 227-205 last week to repeal the Orphan Drug Tax Credit as part of a U.S. tax reform package. A similar package before the Senate Finance Committee does not repeal the credit…
November 21, 2017 News by Larry Luxner Patients Tell Their Stories in Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers’ Online Videos Maryland special education teacher Ingrid Hanson says that since she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis five years ago, she’s developed a better understanding of her students’ needs and the importance of teamwork. Flavia Nelson helps treat MS in the Hispanic community in Houston. Flavia Nelson, an MS specialist at…
November 20, 2017 News by Larry Luxner Nearly 1 Million Americans Have Multiple Sclerosis, NMSS Prevalence Study Finds An estimated 947,000 people in the U.S. have multiple sclerosis (MS) — more than double the long-accepted figure of 400,000 — according to a newly completed study organized and funded by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS). “This is definitely not what we expected,” Nicholas G. LaRocca, vice…
August 28, 2017 News by Larry Luxner Minnesota Mom with Multiple Sclerosis Plunges into Twin Cities MuckFest Beth Kantor, 42, now knows what it really means to get down in the dirt. For the past four years, she’s volunteered as a first-aid assistant at the annual Twin Cities MuckFest, a fundraising event that the National Multiple Sclerosis Society organized in suburban Minneapolis. But this year, Kantor decided…
April 28, 2017 News by Larry Luxner Two Women with Different Forms of Multiple Sclerosis Call Ocrevus a Lifesaver Pamela Arterbridge noticed something was wrong back in 2013 when she woke up one morning, and her legs and feet were tingling. Two years later, Lorraine Lee knew she had a problem when her right leg became extremely fatigued after every workout. Neither realized their eventual diagnosis would be multiple…
March 24, 2017 News by Larry Luxner National MS Society Urges Lawmakers to Oppose American Health Care Act, Details Why in Interview Carol Hardaway was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 1990. After years of enduring relapses that brought episodes of complete blindness, numbness, tingling, debilitating fatigue, and short-term memory loss, the longtime resident of Texas — a state which offers Medicaid only to specific categories like low-income families, pregnant women, and…