NPR

There's An Amazing New Drug For Multiple Sclerosis. Should I Try It?

The innovative drug Ocrevus looks as if it could be a game-changer for people with MS. But it's very, very expensive. And as with any new medication, the long-term safety risks are unknown.
Source: Katherine Streeter for NPR

It wasn't long ago that there were no treatments for multiple sclerosis.

In the 1970s, some doctors used chemotherapy to treat the degenerative neurological disease. Since then, more than a dozen drugs have been developed or approved, including infusions, oral medications and self-administered shots.

None of these are a magic bullet for a disease that can be disabling and deadly. But now there is a new drug, Ocrevus, that looks like a game-changer. It uses a novel approach to blocking the inflammation that drives the disease and looks as if it's spectacularly effective. It also costs $65,000 a year.

I have MS. Should I take Ocrevus?

That, I discovered, is not a simple question to answer. But because I'm an MS patient and a

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