There is a fair bit of evidence emerging that the Mexican antivenoms work just as well on N. American snakes at a fraction of the cost.

The reason for the high cost of CroFab is due to its highly processed nature. Ironically, it turns out that this very highly processed nature actually makes it cleared by the body quicker than it can be reach the venom so the antivenom has to be given over and over ever couple hours for a couple days. Rather than requiring less antivenom, it actually requires just as many total vials at a much much higher cost per vial than the Wyeth product it replaced. Ooops.

Cheers
Bryan
-----
Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry
Deputy Director
Australian Venom Research Unit
University of Melbourne

www.venomdoc.com

[ Show Entire Thread ]