Not Half Sad

I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do today so did a bit of research on the new ‘wonder drug’ for schizophrenia: Cobenfy.

I expect in a short time the NHS will be prescribing it regularly at a cost of nearly $2,000 a month or $24,000 a year.

It is meant to have lower side effects than other antipsychotics because it works on a different neurotransmitter (it’s an acetylcholine agonist and also acetylcholine suppressant. In fact the theory behind it seems like bad science to me).

But when I read this I managed to predict with total accuracy that it would utterly bugger your digestion and lo and behold it does according to the literature.

But what makes it work as a treatment for hallucinations is that it has the effect of lowering dopamine. Maybe then acetylcholine and dopamine work in opposition to one another; raising one lowers the other and vice versa.

so here’s another effect I’m going to have a punt at that hasn’t cropped up but may in time, uncontrollable fast muscle agitation, effectively tardive dyskenesia one way or another.

Patients will end up drowsy but twitching, probably as bad as it could get.

It could take a few years of use for these side effects to come to the public’s attention although I expect Bristol Myers Squibb have predicted it will do this but nonetheless will make a good deal of money out it.

Just another drug that does exactly the same as all the others in the class.

Money for old rope for big pharma and money for lost hope for the sufferers.

Robert David Jackson