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Posts Tagged ‘biologicals’
Monday, March 15th, 2010
Here's a testimonial from one of our recent customers who happens to live very near our factory in Hudson Falls, NY. She took the time to stop by one day to show us how much she was improving, and it really was dramatic. Her happiness was obvious, her enthusiasm was infectious, and her results were indisputable. It was a real pleasure meeting with her and seeing how happy her home system has made her both look and feel:
March 8, 2010
Dear Everyone at UVBioTek
I just wanted to send a Huge thank you to the whole team at UVBio.
I have been fighting with a very rough skin condition called psoriasis that causes your skin to grow very fast causing rough dry looking patches called lesions. The patches are very rough, crack and itch. They are very pain full. They peel and flake as the skin grows too fast. Not only do these patches hurt but are very embarassing. People look at you like you have a very contagious disease and are afraid to talk to you. I have tried many creams and lotions and many different types of treatments including biologic drugs like enbrell that work a little for my skin better on the arm.
I want to send a Huge thank you to Darrel for all the hard work that she did. She worked very hard with my insurance company with forms and applying for coverage to help cover the cost. I know she spent many hours on the phone with them to get this approved for me. I did not have to fight with them on my own for that is worth a million thank yous. She took a lot of the stress away for me.
Before I started using the uvb narrow band home unit, my body was about 90% covered. I had it on my stomach, my back, my legs, and my scalp. There were very few places that were not covered with these patches of rough skin. After just a few weeks of using the unit in my home, I could start to see a difference in my skin it started clearing almost right away. My boyfriend could peel my back in the evening and by morning it was ready to peel again. Some days I felt like I was losing a pound of skin. Besides the frustration of nothing working and doctors giving many lotions. I was amazed that after approx four weeks of using the system for a few minutes every other day how fast my skin started clearing. My stomach is almost completely clear just a few patches. My back is clear, and my legs are clear, I am working on my arms as they were very rough looking and very thick with extra skin. My forearms have cleared in just a few weeks. All the support and open arms that is available at UVBioTek is amazing. I think this is the first time in my life that I have had a company care about me and making it better for me and my family. This is one amazing company that really cares about you. You can stop at their Hudson Falls, NY office and everybody is willing to help with a smile and help you through your condition. I wish there were a million thank yous out there that I could give them because for the comfort and healing that they have given to me is amazing. I only wish I knew about this 10 yrs ago when my skin first started with this. I can't thank them enough for everything that they have done for me… I am now sleeping better because my skin is no longer feeling like somebody poured acid on it. I am no longer losing a pound of skin a day. I am very excited about having nobody know that I have psoriasis all over my body because it will be gone. I have enclosed some pictures. This is truly the best treatment for me. I have seen such a difference in my skin within these few weeks this is truly amazing. It amazing from the support to the treatment that has changed my life. I am so thankful for how my skin is clearing and looking better. Physically emotionally I am feeling so much better.
Thank you
Sincerely
April M. *
(The photos she refers to will be posted as soon as I can get some good copies of them.)
* Full contact information withheld to protect the privacy of our customers, but is available upon request; and we thank April for sharing her story with us all!
Tags: biologicals, health insurance, home, insurance, nbUVB, phototherapy, psoriasis, Success stories, UVB, UVBioTek
Posted in Testimonials | 96 Comments »
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
A recent (1/18/2010) article published in JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association) showed that the costs of brand-name treatments for psoriasis rose by an average of 66% between 2000 and 2008!
Average annual phototherapy costs ranged from $3,083 to $7,288, while biologic therapies ranged from $18,284 to $27,577 annually.
To put that into perspective, the lowest average amount paid annually for biologic treatments is roughly three times the cost of a 16-lamp UVBioTek home phototherapy system… a one-time expense that provides a lifetime of effective treatments – compared with $20K-$30K every year for biologic therapies.
For those few people for whom phototherapy is ineffective, or just not effective enough, biologics are virtual "miracle drugs" where the benefits almost outweigh the rather sizable risks for internal organ damage, cancer and other systemic side effects. But when phototherapy can be used instead, a home system would save over a quarter of a million dollars for each and every patient after just ten years!!
That article can be found here: Science Daily (1/20/2010)
Interestingly, the Archives of Dermatology has also summarized the very same article, with one notable exception; they removed all references to phototherapy! Ask your dermatologist whose interests they have in mind; your's or their pharmaceutical rep's… These numbers seem to point in the wrong direction.
Tags: biologicals, cancer, medical insurance, narrowband, phototherapy, psoriasis, UVBioTek
Posted in News | 15 Comments »
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
It is all too common for dermatologists to suggest that patients with psoriasis or vitiligo go to tanning salons to see if it helps improve their condition. While this used to be a marginally viable treatment option, very few people see any results today. Unfortunately, their doctors often use the lack of a positive skin response as confirmation that phototherapy is simply ineffective for those patients… which generally leads to the next step; TNF Inhibitors (AKA: "Biologicals" & "Systemics" like Enbrel, Raptiva or Humira). While these truly can be miracle drugs for those with no better option, and whose condition is severe enough to justify the risk for serious adverse side effects, a large percentage who are taking now them would likely see positive results if they were able to use a real phototherapy system.
The reason for this misconception about tanning systems and any therapeutic benefits for treating skin conditions is simple; it used to be somewhat accurate. When tanning salons first became popular, the quality of the lamps used were relatively poor in that they emitted a lot of UVB light with the UVA that’s needed to tan. For this reason, it was not uncommon for users to get burned with tanning systems that had the older lamps. This undesirable side effect for tanning customers was precisely what was beneficial for medical patients.
Today’s higher quality lamps have reduced the amount of UVB produced by tanning systems to virtually nothing – an amount that is almost always far below what’s needed for the desired therapeutic response. The quality of medical UVB lamps has also improved greatly. Today’s Narrowband UVB lamps, in particular, are incredibly precise; they only emit light in the color range that has proved to be the most effective within a few nanometers.
This means the old-school advice for patients to seek medical benefits from commercial tanning systems is flawed. Most dermatologists are probably not aware of this, because most are against tanning at all – whether through commercial tanning systems or simply spending time outside in the Sun.
True phototherapy, like that obtained with medical UVB lighting systems from UVBioTek, is simply too effective for too many people to be so casually written off as "ineffective" before it has even been tried. Patients need to be clear with their doctors about this if they wish to avoid the risks and costs associated with even proper use of TNF Inhibitors. Again, such medications are absolutely critical for many people, but a large number of them could be seeing results from phototherapy that are as good, if not better, than the improvements those drugs have provided.
So, if you have a condition that’s UVB phototherapy-treatable, the only effect you should expect to get from a tanning system is your skin getting darker. If you want your skin to get better, make sure you and your doctor both understand the difference. Remember that your doctor’s interest is always in helping you to get better, they may simply be unaware that it is no longer effective.
While UVB phototherapy will not be the best solution for everybody, it has to be a better solution for a vast number of patients. Make sure both you and your doctor know this before concluding that phototherapy is not effective for your condition… because it usually is.
Tags: biologicals, narrowband, phototherapy, psoraisis, systemics, tanning, TNF Inhibitors, vitiligo
Posted in Basic information | 45 Comments »
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009
The use of ‘biological’ medications such as Enbrel, Humira, Raptiva and others have been used to treat psoriasis at a phenomenal rate . In 2008, the entire psoriasis market represented ~$2.5 billion. 55%, or $1.4 billion was spent on biological meds alone.
Aside from the known risks these medications present for cancer and other serious side effects, a large percentage of those patients would likely see better results with phototherapy and without increasing the hazards associated with biological medications. Many patients find that they can get and stay clear with phototherapy alone, without using the expensive and potentially risky biological medications. Sadly, too many dermatologists are prescribing biologicals without ever seeing if phototherapy would be effective first.
The cost of a home narrowband (nbUVB) system is often less than a single month’s worth of biological meds, yet it will provide a time-tested, virtually side-effect free therapy for decades with no additional costs to the patient OR the insurers. Instead, more than half of all the money spent in treating psoriasis is going to the pharmaceutical companies on a regular, routine schedule. This ensures a steady revenue stream, but at the expense of the patient’s best interests.
If just half of the patients who used biological meds in 2008 had instead purchased home nbUVB systems, it could have reduced the overall amount of money spent on psoriasis by a billion dollars annually… while providing more patients with more satisfying, trouble-free results.
(reference: http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/b8d445/commercial_insight)
Tags: biologicals, cancer, health insurance, home, narrowband, nbUVB, phototherapy, psoraisis, UVB, UVBioTek, vitiligo
Posted in Basic information, News | 9 Comments »
Monday, August 10th, 2009
The FDA has issued a warning that TNF blockers (including Enbrel, Humira, Remicade and others) may cause lymphoma, leukemia and other cancers in children and teens. This is in addition to the "black box" cancer warning such medications already carry.
You can read it from the FDA’s website here: FDA:
Cancer Warnings Required for TNF Blockers
And this is the information they offer to healthcare providers:
Information for Healthcare Professionals
These medications certainly still have their uses, but a very large number of people who are currently on Biological meds could probably be seeing good results with narrowband UVB phototherapy instead, without such established links to cancer and without stressing the internal organs.
Treat lightly instead…
Tags: biologicals, cancer, children, enbrel, fda, humira, leukemia, lymphoma, remicade, teenagers, warning
Posted in News | 12 Comments »
Thursday, August 6th, 2009
We have added a new section to the web site called Success Stories. These describe some of the difficulties with insurance that some people have had to endure in order to get their home UVB systems, and some of the ways they managed to get their systems anyway. The procedure seems simple and straight-forward. It is supposed to go something like this:
- Get diagnosed with a nbUVB treatable condition (psoriasis, vitiligo, eczema, CTCL and the rest)
- Take phototherapy treatments for at least long enough to tell if nbUVB therapy is effective for your condition.
- Get a prescription and letter of medical necessity from your doctor for a home nbUVB system.
- Submit a claim for the home system to your insurance company.
- They verify that the condition and equipment is covered, and pay you their share of the purchase (which is dependent upon your particular policy).
- You order and install your system, which will cover virtually all your phototherapy needs for many decades, if not for life.
Many people are being given the newer "biological" medicines like Enbrel, Humira and Raptiva and are seeing wonderful results with them, despite the many undesirable side effects they can carry. Unfortunately, most patients were never told about, or given the chance to try nbUVB treatments before having such medications prescribed.
Insurance companies regularly and routinely cover the costs of administering such medications, which cost thousands of dollars each and every quarter, while at the same time fighting, denying or only partially reimbursing policy-holders for home nbUVB systems that provide many decades of effective therapy for far less than the cost of a single dose of the "biological" meds. That’s without any injections, without perpetual co-payments, and eventually with no outward signs of your skin condition.
Why they reject a one-time purchase in favor of endless pharmaceutical treatments is anyone’s guess, but it can certainly be argued that it is not in the best interests of the patient to skip past phototherapy and go right into the heavy meds. Most insurance policies specify that phototherapy should be tried before biologicals, but this is frequently ignored.
Don’t put up, speak up if your doctor wants to try the "latest & greatest" medications on you before even giving the "oldest & greatest" therapy a chance; nbUVB phototherapy. While the biologicals have been around for several years, clinical phototherapy has been around for almost a century… and people have been using natural nbUVB therapy at the Dead Sea for millennia.
A simple change in such a policy would literally save insurance companies tens of thousands of dollars, per patient, each and every year. Nobody can explain why they insist on paying more.
If you have a story you’d like to share about your experiences in dealing with your condition or your insurance and getting a home system, we’d love to include them in our new section and share them for the education of others.
Tags: biologicals, home, insurance, medical neccesity, nbUVB, Success stories
Posted in Basic information | 22 Comments »
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