Magic Pill to Quit Drinking?
Um, no. Not quite. This little pill that’s been the topic of conversation recently is, in my opinion, another ploy by a drug company to squeeze some more profit out of an existing product. Finding a new use for an old product means they get to bypass all the costs of development and get to fast track some clinical trials and boost sales on a pill. They save even more money by spreading the rumor that preliminary trials show that it MIGHT have an effect on alcoholism.
Topamax is the name of the pill that up until recently was sold as a treatment for migraines. However, the new claim is that it assists alcoholics in tapering off their drinking, presumably to abstinence, without any help from a detox treatment center or drug rehabilitation.
There are three drugs already on the market for treating alcoholism and Topamax is the would-be fourth. Purported to cost $350 a month plus the cost of doctor’s visits (you, of course, do need a prescription), it’s expected to appeal to heavy drinkers who prefer to dry out in private. The privacy aspect I understand. The need to quit drinking I also get. The obvious money-seeking behavior of a company—Johnson & Johnson—to publish the results of a study that are inconclusive when they have no intent of seeking FDA approval, that I don’t get.
The side effects that were said to include tingling, drowsiness, itching, trouble concentrating and dizziness caused one in five of the study participants to drop out. Of the 371 heavy drinkers who were studied for 14 weeks, half were given Topamax and the other half got placebos. Of those given Topamax, 27 people (or 15 percent of the group) quit drinking successfully for seven weeks. Six people in the placebo group (or 3 percent of the group), however, also successfully quit drinking.
Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, agrees with me. He protested the promotion of Topamax for alcohol addiction treatment by sending a letter to the FDA. Dr. Wolfe said, “This is a very bad message to send out.”
But on the positive side, Dr. Mark Willenbring of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism said : “The size of the treatment effect is larger than in most of the other medications we’ve seen, and all the drinking variables changed in the right direction.”
Worst case scenario, you’re out about $1000, lose 3 more months to alcoholism, develop a rash and follow through with nothing because you can’t concentrate…but at least you won’t have a problem with migraines.
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