Dr. Weeks’ Comment: This paragraph which follows is worth reading twice. It shows that Big Pharma is not interested in caring for patients; it is just profiting from people who are grieving or in pain or actually dying. Read twice. And make sure your doctor works for YOU and not Big Pharma.
Natural compound molecule hydroxyprogesterone: 17OHPC was first introduced in 1956 as Delalutin to reduce pregnancy loss. (note the name “progesterone” means “pro- gestation” or helping the pregnancy come to fruition). After decades of use, Squibb, the manufacturer, voluntarily withdrew the brand, however, physicians continued to use 17OHPC “off label” by asking compounding pharmacies to offer this naturally occurring hormone which women who miscarry typically are deficient in causing an inability to maintain healthy “gestation”.
Renewed interest in this natural hormone was sparked with a large NIH-sponsored study in 2003 that found that 17OHPC reduced the risk of premature birth in selected at-risk pregnant women.[12] With follow-up data showing no evidence of harmful effects on the offspring, the FDA approved the drug, as sponsored by KV Pharmaceutical as Makena, as an orphan drug in February 2011 to reduce the risk of premature birth in women prior to 37 weeks gestation with a single fetus who had at least one previous premature birth.[14]
The drug is not effective in preventing premature birth in women with multiples. With the arrival of Makena as an orphan drug, the price of the drug was to increase from $15 to $1,500 per dose meaning a typical treatment would cost $25-30,000, – a pricing strategy that was strongly criticized. The FDA then announced that pharmacies could continue to compound the drug at their usual cost of $10~20 per dose without fear of legal reprisals.[15], and KV reduced its price to $690 per dose.[16]
Ask your doctor to get natural progesterone from a compounding pharmacy (currently these holistic pharmacies are under attack by the Washington Department of Health). Cost to you for a month? ~$40.