"Illegal" Migraine Drugs Hurt Big Pharma Profits

Our "protectors and friends" at the FDA have told 20 companies to stop marketing unapproved migraine drugs containing ergotamine tartrate. These products are used to treat vascular headaches, including migraines. The agency is "concerned that the drugs have not undergone FDA review; thus the safety, effectiveness and quality of the products are unknown." The crackdown is part of the Unapproved Drugs Initiative, an agency effort to get unapproved drugs and supplements off the market. (Read "unapproved" as any substance that does not generate a profit for the FDA).

Ergot, derived from a fungus that grows on grain, has been used for over a century to treat migraine headaches. When it occurs accidentally (and unknown) in grain, it causes "ergotism," which is a narrowing of blood vessels. If uncontrolled, as in the case of ergot poisoning, this can cause tissue damage and even gangrene. When used in controlled doses, this same vasoconstriction is what gives relief to migraine sufferers. Of course, in many if not most situations with drugs, "the difference between a drug and a poison is the dose." (Paracelsus, paraphrased).

I'm guessing that the FDA is doing this "crackdown" not so much because of the dangers of ergotamine tartrate but because the products containing it are marketed for relief of migraines - and that is a direct threat to the profit profiles of the patented drug offerings of their masters, Big Pharma. You have all surely seen the TV and magazine ads for these drugs - we have been bombarded by them of late. The FDA is simply protecting its own interests.

Anytime a natural substance threatens to compete with a patent drug, you can be sure that the FDA will be there to defend the interests of the Big Pharmaceutical Companies and their own coffers.

My Thoughts on The Matter,

Nurse Mark