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Guam running out of gout medication


by Jean Hudson, KUAM News
Sunday, July 02, 2006

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If you're planning on eating a lot of fatty, greasy party foods this 4th of July holiday, you might want to think twice. The medicine most used by those afflicted with gout is in short supply. In fact, most pharmacies around the island are completely out.

Gout, a form of arthritis, is an intensely painful disease and is common to people on the island due to diets rich in purines. The most common drug used on Guam to combat this disease is Indocin (indomethacin) because of its effectiveness and its low cost. Community Pharmacy's Marilyn Florendo says that the supplier of indomethacin has told her that the manufacturer is out, adding, "I've tried to call other pharmacies also and they are out right now. Actually as far as I know there's only one pharmacy on Guam that has right now, but there's only the fifty milligrams and there's no the twenty-five milligrams at all."

Although there are other drugs available for the treatment of gout they are significantly more expensive. The only place to find indomethacin at the moment is at Kmart.