TPA for stroke the story of a controversial drug - Zivin, Justin A. (Oxford University Press, 2011)
Includes bibliographical references and index
Code stroke on Market street -- Clot-buster : the natural history -- Dead or alive -- Brain-O -- The brain doctors cometh : slowly -- What emergency? -- Money and brains -- Deer in the headlights -- Call 911, 112, 15 ... even 999 -- Persistence of a most controversial drug -- Through the looking glass -- Post-script
Without warning stroke can paralyze, blind, or kill. Some victims recover, but many do not and may even suffer another disabling or fatal attack. The drug known as tPA can drastically reduce the long-term disability associated with stroke, but despite its near-miraculous capabilities and the growing support of most neurologists, it has been slow to win acceptance as the standard of care in emergency departments nationwide. tPA for Stroke chronicles how this remarkable drug came to be tested in stroke victims, its early years in development by the pharmaceutical giant Genentech, and its eventua