Leaving the country to buy ACTH

Questcor, maker of ACTH, a drug for MS and Infantile Spasms, has decided to increase the price of the product by a factor of 20, boosting the per vial price from about $1000 to over $20,000. People are upset, as described on the Health Business Blog. In particular, there is concern that the company is abusing the Orphan drug law, which is designed to create incentives for the development of new drugs for conditions that affect only a few people. Considering that ACTH has been on the market for decades and used to treat Infantile Spasms during that time, it seems a bit outrageous.

Meanwhile, a synthetic version of ACTH, made by Novartis, is available overseas. The drug is comparable to the US version, according to Jen Smith's blog. It might be worth the trip abroad to get ahold of it.