By: Loretta Jones, HAAF CEO & Founder
As a gout patient, I can personally attest to the excruciating pain caused by gout, a painful form of arthritis. For those who are unfamiliar with the disease, a simple Google Images search of the word “gout” will speak volumes on just how unpleasant the disease can be.
This is why I was alarmed by the recent news that thousands of gout-suffering seniors in California who are enrolled in Part-D Medicare plans are currently unable to access colchicine, a drug used by gout patients to treat flare-ups of the disease.
The problem stems from a commendable regulatory action recently taken by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in which the agency removed untested and unapproved versions of colchicine from the marketplace in order to protect patients from potentially harmful side effects. The FDA reports that dozens of deaths have been associated with unapproved colchicine. The good news is that there is an FDA-approved version available.
