Fusilev is a brand name for leukovorin which is a simple folic acid derivative (folinic acid.)
It is not a treatment for osteosarcoma but is a vitamin analog which protects against the harmful effects of another cancer drug, methotrexate, which interferes with cells’ capacity to use the vitamin folic acid.
Without folinic acid (Fusilev), the massive doses of methotrexate necessary to treat osteosarcoma could not be tolerated by the patient’s non-cancerous cells.
Folinic acid is a simple derivative of the naturally occurring vitamin folic acid and is easy to produce.
The FDA, which is in the pockets of the pharmaceutical industry, recently declared vitamin B6 a drug, thus banning its sale in health food stores.
Giving companies the sole right to distribute naturally occurring substances such as vitamins is a socialistic move, and against the American spirit of free enterprise.
Free markets should determine the cost and availability of these substances which were discovered many years ago by scientific researchers and not by these drug companies.
Therefore, in the long run, and considering the viability of the American medical care system, this folic acid derivative does not make this company (or at least should not make it) a good investment.
