Veterinarians are able to offer and provide vaccines for lyme disease to dogs, which is based (or maybe even identical) to a vaccine developed for human use. The human vaccine was pulled from the market following publicized anti-vaccine controversy regarding potential side effects including arthritis. See: http://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/history-lyme-disease-vaccine
Deer ticks are a huge problem in my area, particularly for people who spend time in fields and woods. We can get our dogs vaccinated but not ourselves, though I’ve heard of veterinarians vaccinating themselves and friends.
Was the decision to pull the vaccine warranted on legitimate safety concerns, or due to public pressure and fear of liability?
We just went through a bout of Lyme and got the story from multiple sources; as nearly as I can discern in the murk, it’s financial. There isn’t enough potential payoff for the further development and testing. It is, however, good enough for dogs and apparently profitable there. Like so many things in Big Pharma, it’s maddeningly nutball.
Seems hard to believe, but apparently sales declined from 1,500,000 doses to a projected 10,000 doses in the span of three years!
People are crazy!
Not sure what the price was, but say $100. Not sure what the margins are, but it would bring in maybe a million gross. Obviously that isn’t enough from a business perspective - and until they come up with a vaccine for stupidity I’m not sure there is much we can do except maybe pass a law allowing doctors to prescribe vaccines made for animals as an off label use.
The vaccine wasn’t that good, so doctor’s were not recommending it. The antigen it was made against had the theirectical potential to cause auto-immune diseases because it mimicked a human antigen. and that potential raised concerns. Other factors played into the decision to pull it as well.
From your cite, the efficacy was only “76 to 92 percent effective… after three injections”. Personally, I would only choose to get vaccinated if I was regularly at risk of contracting lyme disease. Since I don’t tromp through deep woods on a regular basis, I don’t have a very high risk. When I do occasionally go for a hike I can probably achieve far better than 90% risk reduction with insect repellant and careful inspection for ticks. And frankly if you treat it early Lyme disease isn’t that bad.
Nowadays I realize that there’s a major tick epidemic in parts of the country, and you can contract lyme disease in an ordinary a suburban park. So perhaps there would be a lot more demand for an improved vaccine.
Basically, the level of effectiveness required for a vaccine to be legal to sell for animal use is far lower than the level required for human use. As long as a vaccine is safe to use and better than nothing, you can sell it for animal use.
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I’m a hiker so several friends have come down with Lyme disease and their experiences run the range from minor inconvenience to 6-months of misery, even with early intervention. I haven’t gotten it yet since I don’t hike in many areas that have ticks but since I’m doing more trail running the vaccine might make more sense.
Mrs. B. got a case that had her in shaking agony for days before an alert ER doctor spotted signs that made him test for Lyme. She had been treated for a pinched nerve, muscle strain and other things (none of which knocked down the pain for more than a few hours). It’s a bastard of a disease even in its mildest forms.
Is it truly illegal in a “My doctor is going to prison for 5-20 for giving me a lyme disease vaccination” sense, or is the lyme disease vaccination simply an off label use in humans? It’s well known that doctors in the US are generally allowed to use any approved drug they want for any purpose they feel is medically warranted - the restrictions are on the drug manufacturers who are not allowed to market the drug for any use other than those approved. E.g. Your doctor can prescribe Prozac to you to treat glaucoma and psoriasis if he really-and-truly-o thinks it might work, but Eli Lilly can’t suggest this idea to your doctor with glossy brochures and freebies.
Off label use applies to FDA approved drugs that are approved for other conditions. Using an unapproved drug in humans, outside some very narrow exceptions, is not legal.
Yes, the doctor can prescribe any approved drug. However, insurance companies will not cover the cost of drugs that are prescribed for any treatment for which they are not approved.