Good Health Magazine : UPDATE : DRUGS IN THE HEADLINES

Clozaril is a psychiatric drug that is remarkably effective in treating some schizophrenic people.

Used for years in Europe but only available in this country since last year, Clozaril is an antipsychotic drug used to quell the hallucinations, delusions and other mind-altering symptoms of schizophrenia. It’s more effective than standard antipsychotic drugs for people with a severe form of schizophrenia, and it also does not cause the disabling movement disorder associated with long-term use of the other drugs.

Dr. Herbert Meltzer, a psychiatrist who has performed research on the drug at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, said Clozaril’s effect on his patients is “nothing short of a miracle.”

With the annual cost per patient of the drug reaching nearly $9,000, Clozaril also is among the most expensive drugs available. However, in response to increased negative publicity and the threat of hearings on Capitol Hill about the price of the drug, the manufacturer announced in January that the drug’s annual per-patient price will be lowered soon to about $4,000.

Anemia--an abnormally low level of red blood cells--can be a life-threatening problem, particularly to people whose bone marrow is unable to produce new cells. Researchers know that the kidney produces a hormone, erythropoietin, that stimulates the production of red blood cells. Although attempts to collect the hormone in large quantities have been unsuccessful, scientists can now synthesize this hormone using recombinant technology. The drug is prohibitively expensive, but it offers new hope to those with serious forms of anemia.