Politics

FDA Delaying ‘Miracle Drug’ For Patients Relying On Feeding Tubes

Shutterstock/Chatkul

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Ethan Barton Editor in Chief
Font Size:

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials are making it much harder to get a “miracle drug” that helps people eat normally who would otherwise have to rely on a feeding tube, according to an Arizona think tank’s investigation.

The drug Domperidone was not approved by the FDA, but, until recently, was fairly easily obtained from compounding pharmacies, Goldwater Institute investigative reporter Mark Flatten reports. Compounding pharmacies craft highly specialized drugs for specific patients and are now under tighter scrutiny from the agency.

The report details the lives of patients suffering from gastroparesis, “a potentially deadly condition in which food basically sits in the stomach rather than being digested and passed normally,” Flatten wrote. Sufferers typically vomit most of the food they consume instead of digesting it.

Domperidone is a proven treatment for gastroparesis, with one doctor calling it a “miracle drug.” Patients using the drug are able to eat normally without vomiting.(RELATED: Suit Alleges Former FDA Chief Suppressed Danger Of ‘Deadly’ Drug For Sake Of Profit)

Flatten describes a seven-year-old patient who developed a fear of feeding after living her first three years relying on a feeding tube and regularly vomiting. She was then successfully treated with Domperidone, but the FDA’s crackdown may force her to go back to the feeding tube.

The FDA’s major concern is a link between Domperidone and a heart condition called QT Prolongation, which is “a pause in the electrical buildup in the heart between beats,” Flatten wrote.

Janssen Pharmaceutical applied for FDA approval of Domperidone in 1985, but the agency wanted more evidence the drug was safe. The company instead withdrew its application without explanation.

But the tie between the medicine and the QT condition is overhyped by the FDA, and studies showing the link have been highly criticized, according to Flatten.

Meanwhile, about 150 FDA-approved drugs linked to QT prolongation are on the market, and Domperidone is available in more than 100 countries and is often sold over the counter.

Regardless, Domperidone users Flatten interviewed believe the drug’s benefits outweighed the risks and now must overcome additional hurdles in the face of the FDA’s stricter control.

Domperidone patient Colleen Beener, 62, had been on the drug for 15 years and took it because “she cannot lead anything resembling a normal life without it,” Flatten wrote.

“When I’m not taking it, I don’t get out of bed,” Beener told Flatten. “I’m so sick, I can’t do anything. But when I take it, I have days that I can go watch my grandkids swim or play soccer or whatever. As far as I am concerned, that’s the risk-reward balance that I have to take.”

It’s become increasingly difficult for Beener to get Domperidone. She wouldn’t divulge where she now gets her supply, fearing that the FDA would shut down her supplier.

“She has effectively been forced onto the black market because of the FDA’s actions, she said,” Flatten wrote.

Some patients buy their Domperidone in Mexico, where they can’t be sure of its quality or be told of the safe dosage.

FDA officials refused Flatten’s requests for interviews.

Follow Ethan on Twitter

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel