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Taking the edge off of painkillers' side effects.(methylnaltrexone)(Brief Article)

Crain's Chicago Business, March, 2002 by Klein, Sarah A.

Leon Goldberg was seeking relief-not riches-when he developed the drug methylnaltrexone in his University of Chicago lab. But now, the drug that Dr. Goldberg created in the early '80s to help a friend cope with the pain and nausea of late-stage cancer could be worth millions. Dr. Goldberg's invention is designed to treat the severe side effects of painkillers, ones so disabling they often force cancer patients to forgo pain medicine.

These side effects, which can include severe constipation, nausea and vomiting, intense itching and urinary retention, prompt between 10% and 20% of cancer patients to choose pain over pain medication, often in the last months of their lives. Dr. Goldberg thought he could solve the problem for his friend, and he did. He took...

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