What happens when innovation in treatment for a disease stagnates?
Huntington’s has only two FDA-approved drugs to treat symptoms of chorea: tetrabenazine (old) and deutetrabenazine (approved in 2017).
However, in the USA, physicians can prescribe whatever they feel is best for their patient off-label (and about 1 in 5 prescriptions are off-label). Doctors prescribe Risperdal (risperidone), Haldol (haloperidol) and Thorazine (chlorpromazine) off-label to treat HD chorea symptoms.
So off-label prescribing is a major way that the medical system can innovate, by adapting old drugs to new purposes.
What happens when innovation in treatment for a disease stagnates?
Huntington’s has only two FDA-approved drugs to treat symptoms of chorea: tetrabenazine (old) and deutetrabenazine (approved in 2017).
However, in the USA, physicians can prescribe whatever they feel is best for their patient off-label (and about 1 in 5 prescriptions are off-label). Doctors prescribe Risperdal (risperidone), Haldol (haloperidol) and Thorazine (chlorpromazine) off-label to treat HD chorea symptoms.
So off-label prescribing is a major way that the medical system can innovate, by adapting old drugs to new purposes.