>Sukie, can you please elaborate on "those lost"?
 
It is up to them if they chose to; it's not my place to divulge the
lives of others -- just not right to do that, esp.  in a public forum.
My suspicions are that some of those people are on the FML and their
private lives are their own to speak of.  So, if they chose to they
will.  The worst situations I recall reading about involved ferrets with
complications.  Now, ones with complications sometimes are too sick to
be helped by Lupron, anyway, or can need additional meds.  When they are
helped by Lupron they need good size doses.  I guess that all that you
need to do to get an idea of what was said is to look at ones for whom
the non-depot Lupron didn't work and then imagine what would happen
for those with complications who needed more, and maybe consider the
alternative hypothesis at
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org/browse.php?msg=SG8652
 
*****The problem has been in communication.  When the purchasers are told
that this is the monthly shot they will think that means this is the
month depot.  It WASN'T.  Instead what that one vet's office meant was
"This is the much smaller NON-DEPOT (i.e. NON-time-release) shot we have
been experimentally monitoring to see what effects may last a month."
There is a world of difference there.  The time release ones (the depot
ones which slowly continue releasing the drug over a space of a month
instead of supplying one hit of the drug) have PROVEN results which HAVE
met strict testing criteria.  ALWAYS REMEMBER WHAT DEPOT MEANS: TIME
RELEASE.*****
 
Please, read the assorted materials.  What are being discussed are two
opposing hypotheses and which possible benefits and which possible
risks apply to any given individual needs to be sorted out.  DATA WHICH
ACTUALLY TELLS THE FULL STORY IS LACKING.
 
I have no problem with the idea that this shot may help some (and am
awaiting reliable, well researched data on each side), but it appears
that it also is exactly the wrong thing for other ferrets, so PEOPLE
SHOULD KNOW WHAT THEY ARE BUYING AND THE SELLER SHOULD NOT PERSISTENTLY
USE CONFUSING LANGUAGE.  It is that simple.  If people were told frankly
that this is NOT the depot, and that the monthly timing being used by
that hospital is NOT due to the product being the stronger time-release
depot then those who greatly need the actual depot could have been spared
this error.
 
I am afraid that this may become one of those issues in which people
take sides INSTEAD of realizing that what is right for one ferret is not
necessarily right for all, and that what is being discussed is far more
important than taking sides.  It is ferret health issue and those are
always more important.  Right now there are conflicting hypotheses; read
BOTH.  Have your VET assess which type is right for your ferret and if
one type may be dangerous for your own individual.  Then INSIST on
accurate info about WHICH Lupron you are getting.  If your ferret needs
the depot (time release) do NOT settle for someone saying "This is the
monthly one." because even though the language being used SHOULD be
clear it has not been, and it persistently has not been even recently
when some have called there fro clarification.
 
Again, instead of saying "This is the monthly shot." they SHOULD be
forth-coming that this is NOT the month depot (time release over a month)
but is instead simply a shot for which they are looking at some outward
effects over the space of a month.  Outward effects do not necessarily
tell you what is happening inside.  Remember, too, that most won't get
complications, but that when they occur some are fatal without proper
response.
 
This is more important than a "take sides" issue; it is one in which
MORE DATA is needed to make knowledgeable FERRET HEALTH assessments, and
people DESERVE to know WHAT they are purchasing or the data is going to
get even more muddled than it already is and ferrets who need a different
approach than this one type of non-time release shot could be placed at
risk.  If nothing else people have a right be expect to be told in a way
they can understand and which will not confuse them exactly what they
are buying.  It's very do-able, so hopefully this WILL be corrected.  It
certainly has persisted longer than it should have, but for some reason
there seems to have been the expectation that everyone who wanted a depot
would insist on the word "depot" and would know the difference.  That has
not been a very real-world take on things.
 
Okay, personal take: even though we are tight here economically if one
of our's needed Lupron I would NOT use the 24 hour stuff at this point
because there just are too many unknowns at this point while I know the
Lupron Depot has a proven track record because it continues releasing the
drug over time.  Never-the-less, even if I did at some point want to buy
the 24 hour one instead of the depot I'd want clear language so I would
know WHAT I was buying.
 
BTW, most ferrets do not get complications, Lupron might slow the
growth of some types of adrenal growths but when a ferret is a surgical
candidate that remains the best approach, other meds are needed along
with Lupron DEPOT in ferrets with complications who aren't sugical
candidates, and some types of growths do not respond to Lupron while
some others may need a higher dose.
 
There is another experimental Lupron use which I am thinking that maybe
we should not have tried when we did though I know it may not be a factor
so am seeking further info (Please, see my note in brackets which is
below Alicia's, too):
http://www.smartgroups.com/message/viewdiscussion.cfm?
gid=1423922&messageid=9295
[Posted in FML issue 4557]