Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 12, 1990 TAG: 9004120871
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/6 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Officials announced March 30 that a study had found the steroid therapy effective, but a consumer health group complained that nearly two weeks later many emergency-room and trauma-care physicians still did not know enough about the treatment to use it.
After receiving a letter from the Public Citizen Health Research Group and requests from physicians, public health officials decided Wednesday to send a three- to four-page summary of the study findings to physicians and hospitals.
"We'll get it out as quickly as possible," said Jim Brown, a spokesman for the Public Health Service, which includes the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, Md.
The study, sponsored by the institute, found that high doses of the steroid methylprednisolone given within eight hours of a spinal injury significantly reduces paralysis.
Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of the health group, welcomed the institute's action, but said: "It's tragic that it's taken so long.
"Several weeks have gone by since [the research was accepted for publication in a medical journal] when they arguably could have notified hospital emergency rooms," he said. "It's too late for these people."
About 10,000 Americans suffer spinal cord injuries each year, and medical experts say 95 percent of those patients could benefit from the treatment because they are admitted to hospitals within eight hours.
Wolfe noted that each day of delay means that 20 or 30 victims of spinal cord injuries might not receive this breakthrough treatment, which he said could mean the difference for some between using crutches and a wheelchair.
Wolfe said he had found that many physicians weren't using the treatment because they hadn't yet seen data documenting its effectiveness.
Michael Bracken, a professor at the Yale University School of Medicine who directed the study, was preparing a summary of the research findings that will be mailed to 6,000 hospitals and 13,000 physicians, Brown of the Public Health Service said.
Institute officials had said they made the unusual move of announcing the research findings before their publication next month in the New England Journal of Medicine so that physicians could start using the treatment earlier.
Physicians who want more information before they receive the mailing may call the institute during daytime working hours at (301) 496-5751.
by CNB