Men currently being treated with Xofigo should ask their doctors, today, “What should I do in light of the current shortage of Xofigo?”

In our October 8, 2014 bog post, we cited data from the ALSYMPCA clinical trial for Xofigo, which was given to Malecare during an interview with Joseph Germino, MD, PhD, Vice President of United States Medical Affairs for Bayer HealthCare, LLC. Malecare has removed this data, because we now believe it might provide misleading implications regarding patient outcomes due to delayed Xofigo dose administration. We now feel that there is little understanding about what happens to a man when he stops taking Xofigo, mid course.

According to Dr Germino, in an email dated October 9,
“we don’t have a lot of data yet on patients with delayed doses.”
“I wouldn’t want to leave the impression that the data are stronger than they are – we haven’t studied this in a manner to precisely answer the question. ” stated Dr. Germino.

We are grateful to Dr. Germino for his follow-up with Malecare.

There is much incentive for Bayer to discover the source of the contamination of Xofigo and repair their factory. Until then, no one knows what the effect of this world wide shortage will be. Which is why, we say again, talk to your doctor, today.

A word about worry. Reading today’s post may make you feel worried. We share that feeling with you. Worry feels unpleasant, for sure, but we want you to use your worry as a motivator for action. Call your doctor. And then, afterwards, return to your life, as best as you can. Neither you nor we can visit the Xofigo factory and fix it. We have to rely on Bayer for that. But, you can spit into the face of this setback and enjoy the days that you have, right now. So, two messages for today: Call your doctor and keep enjoying life.

Darryl Mitteldorf, LCSW