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Hi All, Ivan, I was involved in the Tasmar trials here in Canada and then was prescribed Tasmar until it was pulled off the market 1 year ago. I also found Tasmar to be a very smooth ride compared to the ups and downs of Sinemet alone. Tasmar is a very powerful drug and I found it necessary to titrate (wean off slowly) over a period of several weeks when I was taken off the drug. Tasmar is still available on an extremely restricted basis in Canada, only prescribed when nothing else works, and then closely monitored. I believe most neuros are in the process of getting their remaining Tasmar patients off the drug if at all possible. Like you I have heard persistent rumours that the 3 deaths were all women in their late 70's and that they had not necessarily followed all the prereqisites of pretesting to establish a base line for their liver function. (only rumours - not necessarily true) This might be interpreted that it was not known whether, or not, there was any pre-existing liver weaknesses. I have no medical credentials, I'm just a mechanic who happens to have Parkinsons. I'm waiting for Comtan or something else. That said, I really know nothing whatsoever about Comtan. You do have to place some trust in the professional Movement Disorder Specialists who have dedicated their lives to our PD. ... murray On 26 Nov 99 at 19:38, Ivan M Suzman wrote: > ******************************************************************** > I am still not convinced of the supposed liver-death association of > Tasmar, > but at the same time, I am very concerned to be well-informed. Janet > wrote , in an excellent summary about Comtan and Tasmar, that: > > > no liver problems have been reported with comtan this is the major > >advantage > > I still hold in reserve any negative judgement about Tasmar, > and its putative association with liver damage. > > Can anyone please corroborate this information about Tasmar and Comtan? > > I understand from a probably reliable source inside Roche that there > is an important bit of information that is not generally known. > > The Roche source said that all three possibly Tasmar-related > deaths from fulminant hepatitis were in women in their 70's > with osteoporosis. Did they have pre-exisitng liver weaknesses? > > Is there a relationship between the liver and osteoporosis? > > Is there any strong reason why Tasmar continues to be banned > in Europe and (is this right?) difficult to access in Canada unless > ordered by a qualified physician? Is is banned in Australia and > New Zealand? > > I continue to stand by Tasmar, because with me, at least, > it helps extend the length of my on- times. Its half-life is > 4to 6 hours (I think this is considerably longer than Comtan's), > and it crosses the blood-brain barrier. Unlike > Tasmar, Comtan is not , as far as I know, able to cross the blood-brain > barrier, > so it cannot act against Catechol O'Methyl Transferase > (COMT) in the nerve-cell to nerve-cell transport environment > within the brain. > > Please comment and correct any errors. Thank you. > > Ivan > :-) > all the best .............. murray [log in to unmask]