5 ms·

look, if someone has actually have a new drug that works like antipsychotics but doesn't have the nightmare side effects, i am very happy for that person to get

look, if someone has actually have a new drug that works like antipsychotics but doesn't have the nightmare side effects, i am very happy for that person to get filthy rich. if this pans out the way they hope, by all means give the lead guy a couple yachts or whatever he wants. space tourism, gold statue of himself, whatever. big bonuses all the way down the org chart. there's the potential to reduce an absolutely staggering amount of human misery here. frankly (again if this pans out) our homelessness crisis would look very different if this drug had existed 20 years ago, when the mechanism of action was discovered. the people who cared enough and took a huge concentrated risk to do this should just get rich, if in fact it pans out.

throwup238 2y ago
> the people who cared enough and took a huge concentrated risk to do this should just get rich, if in fact it pans out. They already did. Bristol Myer Squibb acquired the company behind this drug for $14 billion earlier this year.
lukan 2y ago
"frankly (again if this pans out) our homelessness crisis would look very different if this drug had existed 20 years ago" Are there numbers, for how many homeless people, are suffering from schizophrenia? I would assume only a very small number of homeless people has the clinical condition, but those who have it, are just very visible. Most homeless people are hidden usually and avoid attention.
- dgacmu 2y ago
  It's actually quite high. 10%+ in this meta-analysis, and 21% with some form of psychosis. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6880407/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6880407/ If I were to guess, I would say that while many people may experience bouts of homelessness, the ones with schizophrenia are more likely to be persistently homeless.
- throw18376 2y ago
  this is completely true, but they take up a very disproportionate amount of time and energy from social service providers, people who work in shelters, etc, and make all spaces for homeless people much more chaotic. the crisis would look very different if it was just a mix of people dealing with drug addiction (but basically lucid and rational) and with poverty.
  - lukan 2y ago
    "drug addiction (but basically lucid and rational) " Serious drug addicts are seldom lucid and rational. But I very much do get the point, that solving the schizophrenic problem, would help a lot with everything else. (I am just way more sceptical, that this drug can deliver that)
- 11235813213455 2y ago
  Even those who are not, will probably develop some sort of schizophrenia due to their marginal lifestyle, but I wonder if it's really a "disease", I feel like it's an adaptation to their environment for people who are more sensitive than others. I feel like the pain is more due to the lack of solutions, especially in a city centre, where it's a constant hell for these guys (and for most any other animal actually, except a few who adapted to that: pigeons, rats, some insects but not the most beautiful ones), just my thought
  - rs999gti 2y ago
    > but I wonder if it's really a "disease" Not a disease but a real illness, with no cure but treatment like cancer. Even with effective treatment, sometimes the psychosis wins, and the patient can backslide into full blown illness.
codedokode 2y ago
Homeless people are unlikely to pay $20 000 per year which is the price of the drug though.
- toxicdevil 2y ago
  > Homeless people are unlikely to pay $20 000 per year which is the price of the drug though. True, but think about all the people who are fully functioning and productive members of society and got afflicted with this disease. This med will increase the likelihood that they continue to be highly functioning and compliant with the treatment. This will allow them to keep their jobs and cognitive abilities. Every person I know with this disease has trouble sticking to meds due to side effects, and not sticking to the meds and relapsing multiple times is probably one of the most important reasons that their condition regresses.
  - lotusZZZ 2y ago
    It’s not just the side effects that cause people with schizophrenia to be non-compliant with meds. Many people with schizophrenia stop taking meds because they do not think they are sick - anosognosia. It’s why a longer lasting injectable is often recommended over daily oral meds.
    - rs999gti 2y ago
      > longer lasting injectable is often recommended over daily oral meds Both are recommended. Why? Daily meds are not only effective, but remind the patient that they have an illness that needs daily maintenance, it makes them involved in the treatment. Long acting injectables are added monthly to prevent backslides in case the patient forgets or does not want to take their medicine.
  - hackernewds 2y ago
    It would be nice if every one could afford it. And people were still filthy rich, but not necessarily exorbitantly rich? It cost the company discovering the drug around $11M
  - 2y ago

throwup238 2y ago

> the people who cared enough and took a huge concentrated risk to do this should just get rich, if in fact it pans out. They already did. Bristol Myer Squibb acquired the company behind this drug for $14 billion earlier this year.

lukan 2y ago

"frankly (again if this pans out) our homelessness crisis would look very different if this drug had existed 20 years ago" Are there numbers, for how many homeless people, are suffering from schizophrenia? I would assume only a very small number of homeless people has the clinical condition, but those who have it, are just very visible. Most homeless people are hidden usually and avoid attention.

dgacmu 2y ago
It's actually quite high. 10%+ in this meta-analysis, and 21% with some form of psychosis. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6880407/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6880407/ If I were to guess, I would say that while many people may experience bouts of homelessness, the ones with schizophrenia are more likely to be persistently homeless.
throw18376 2y ago
this is completely true, but they take up a very disproportionate amount of time and energy from social service providers, people who work in shelters, etc, and make all spaces for homeless people much more chaotic. the crisis would look very different if it was just a mix of people dealing with drug addiction (but basically lucid and rational) and with poverty.
- lukan 2y ago
  "drug addiction (but basically lucid and rational) " Serious drug addicts are seldom lucid and rational. But I very much do get the point, that solving the schizophrenic problem, would help a lot with everything else. (I am just way more sceptical, that this drug can deliver that)
11235813213455 2y ago
Even those who are not, will probably develop some sort of schizophrenia due to their marginal lifestyle, but I wonder if it's really a "disease", I feel like it's an adaptation to their environment for people who are more sensitive than others. I feel like the pain is more due to the lack of solutions, especially in a city centre, where it's a constant hell for these guys (and for most any other animal actually, except a few who adapted to that: pigeons, rats, some insects but not the most beautiful ones), just my thought
- rs999gti 2y ago
  > but I wonder if it's really a "disease" Not a disease but a real illness, with no cure but treatment like cancer. Even with effective treatment, sometimes the psychosis wins, and the patient can backslide into full blown illness.

codedokode 2y ago

Homeless people are unlikely to pay $20 000 per year which is the price of the drug though.

toxicdevil 2y ago
> Homeless people are unlikely to pay $20 000 per year which is the price of the drug though. True, but think about all the people who are fully functioning and productive members of society and got afflicted with this disease. This med will increase the likelihood that they continue to be highly functioning and compliant with the treatment. This will allow them to keep their jobs and cognitive abilities. Every person I know with this disease has trouble sticking to meds due to side effects, and not sticking to the meds and relapsing multiple times is probably one of the most important reasons that their condition regresses.
- lotusZZZ 2y ago
  It’s not just the side effects that cause people with schizophrenia to be non-compliant with meds. Many people with schizophrenia stop taking meds because they do not think they are sick - anosognosia. It’s why a longer lasting injectable is often recommended over daily oral meds.
  - rs999gti 2y ago
    > longer lasting injectable is often recommended over daily oral meds Both are recommended. Why? Daily meds are not only effective, but remind the patient that they have an illness that needs daily maintenance, it makes them involved in the treatment. Long acting injectables are added monthly to prevent backslides in case the patient forgets or does not want to take their medicine.
- hackernewds 2y ago
  It would be nice if every one could afford it. And people were still filthy rich, but not necessarily exorbitantly rich? It cost the company discovering the drug around $11M
- 2y ago