text_1: Treating at the Earliest Sign of MS May Offer Long-Term Benefit
text_2: This release summarizes a study that followed 11-year treatment outcomes of two groups of patients with early symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS). All of the patients had experienced a first episode suggestive of MS, called clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), and a  magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan suggesting MS. Up to 85 percent of people with CIS go on to develop MS. The two patient groups were randomized to either receive interferon beta-1 by injection immediately or receive a placebo for two years. After two years, the placebo group could receive their treatment of choice. The patients who received the drug immediately appeared to have fewer relapses over the 11 years of study, according to the lead author, but no advantages were observed in other patient outcomes such as overall disability and MRI scans. The release would have been stronger if it provided more context for judging the reduced number of relapses, especially in light of the two groups showing no difference in disability. The release also omitted mention of significant potential conflicts of interest, the high annual cost of interferon beta-1 and the drug’s side effects. Society faces tough questions because of the high prices of drugs that target the immune system, such as interferon beta-1b for multiple sclerosis. This news release suggests drug therapy should begin sooner for patients without including any of the controversy on cost playing out in the United States and Europe. Last year authors of a different research study, also published in Neurology, called the rise in MS drug prices “alarming” and wrote it was also puzzling, since some of the drugs are not new. “Why the costs of MS DMTs [disease modifying therapies] in the United States have risen so dramatically is uncertain. However, the simplest explanation is that pharmaceutical companies raise prices of new and old MS DMTs in the United States to increase profits and our health care system puts no limits on these increases,’ they wrote. Why is cost so important to mention? This drug study, in particular, has significant potential conflicts of interest, discussed below under the Funding Sources & Conflict of Interest Disclosure criteria.