It's a rare genetic illness and, in the Washington Post's telling, a "frightening" one.
And it's one whose symptoms many sufferers were able to control for free, or a pittance. That's changed in an extreme and dramatic fashion in recent years, making the drug Keveyis yet another example of out-of-control drug prices. But this case has a twist: It's one of good intentions that took a turn.
The drug was developed in the late '50s to treat glaucoma, and was sold under the name Daranide. But those suffering from periodic paralysis, which can cause spells of immobility, discovered it helped ease their symptoms. For the remainder of the 20th century, it came cheap; the Post puts its list price at $50 for 100 pills in 2001. But then Merck discontinued it, and those desperate to obtain it had to import it from abroad; the monthly cost increased to roughly $300.
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