This past summer, on the basis of the drug’s plaque-reducing effect, the FDA approved the drug for all six million Alzheimer’s patients
Do not including header, footer, direct quotes, or bibliographic material) as word count. Your paper should do all of the following: (1) state an opinion on the topic; (2) give one or more arguments in support of that opinion; (3) identify at least one possible counterargument a reader might raise; and (4) reply to the counterargument(s).
Alzheimer’s disease is a neurological disorder afflicting over six million Americans and killing over a hundred thousand of those per year. The disease causes the formation of amyloid plaque deposits on the brain, as well as progressively-worsening dementia; it is widely suspected, but has not yet been proven, that the plaque deposits are the cause of the dementia. Clinical trials have recently shown that a new anti-amyloid drug called Aducanumab is capable of reducing the plaque deposits; however, it also causes significant side-effects (e.g. bleeding of the brain) in about a third of patients, and will cost each patient (and/or their insurer) over $50,000 per year. Meanwhile, the data are ambiguous about whether the drug succeeds in slowing dementia progression—longer and larger trials would be needed before a conclusion could be drawn one way or the other. This past summer, on the basis of the drug’s plaque-reducing effect, the FDA approved the drug for all six million Alzheimer’s patients. In your opinion, was this the right decision, or should it have waited for more data on whether the drug helps alleviate the symptoms people actually care about? Defend your answer.
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