A little long, but important to me
EPM sure brings out the uglies in people. Delta got me curious with the “another oroquin-10 thread” comment so I investigated.
Wow…people can be really ugly and small. If nothing else it would be good for us to remember some basic people skills and consider that a comment on a thread is not a personal message. I digress…
As I may have a horse with EPM this thread (the first I’ve read) got me researching around. As far as the credentials of the OP, does it matter? That he/she may be a shill…who cares other then the chaff on a horse forum. WHat I find curious is the emotions surrounding this drug.
I did read it was a trial
http://www.epmhorse.org/Treatment/Treatment.htm
This field drug trial opened in May 2011. This drug is a combination of decoquinate and levamisole. Both drugs are FDA approved individually for other animals, but not combined for use in horses. Oroquin-10 has started through the FDA review process
so there is no question that anyone participating would be pretty much experimenting with their horse. There will be some who will take a view point of “Not my horse, it is not approved, not enough data”. There will be people who may say “Nothing else works” or “I can afford it” or even as basic as “I believe in this doctor”. This is not a new concept. Humans have done this for eons since medicine was discovered. Penicillin may have been touted as the wonder drug with many a naysayer decrying it as snake oil medicine, till enough data was presented to prove its worth. Families try fringe cancer drugs in the hope it may work, because nothing else had before.
I dug a little bit on the internet for information on EPM, oroquin, and other treatments. Right off the bat this thread did good for it educated me more on the disease, had me look at treatments and understand costs. Nothing I found on oroquin-10 stated it was nothing beyond a trail drug working on FDA approval. How does one gather data without, at some point, performing field work. I agree that this is an anecdotal quote but from the above link:
All four FDA drugs fall within the range 57% to 61% success rate, based upon clinical studies. Two major differences between the drugs are cost and possible side effects. A successful treatment is deemed one in which the neurological symptoms are reduced by 1 on the Mayhew Scale. This is not very comforting to an owner with a horse at 4 on the Mayhew Scale. A successful treatment under this definition may leave the horse safe for pasture only. The trial drug has been tested in 200 horses and early reports are 94% efficacy.
Yes Delta, I agree, show me the facts, post the results, show the study, because if that were true it certainly would make the whole EPM drug treatment options stand on end. I’m not a scientist, just a plain old programmer, but one thing in common is that we both tend to not want to “publish” till the process is complete. Me showing an incomplete program tends to be counter productive unless it is for a specific point of issue. I figure publishing “official” data before a trail is complete would have the same effect as folks will want to spin the numbers. With that said, when the OP and others talk about “cures” then the researchers need to be prepared to acknowledge requests for data or for how results were achieved.
To the OP I would say that when you come on a public forum and present credentials, be prepared to be challenged and to respond with facts. I am a very experienced computer programmer. Want proof, I’ll post my resume 
I’m not asking for proof OP, but when someone challenges my credentials I am quite clear as to my background, skills, and education so there is little question regarding me professionally. If I come here and say “yeah, I’m a Prelim rider, been there, done that” my ass would be handed to me in a few key strokes, because I cannot come close to backing it up (I’m not). This is 'net etiquette, when you posit a skill, but say “I don’t have to prove anything”…you’ll be doubted from that point on, because you do. Never boast skills. Perhaps Dr Ellison (she seems to be leading this) could jump in and answer questions or provide more depth to the study then the OP. Now that would be informative.
Regarding my horse and EPM, it was talked about a few years ago as a possible reason for some visible actions. She does not always reset her front legs when put out of position, she does drag her feet at times, she does trip. She is also 22, has lower ringbone, and was mistreated for years before I got her. If oroquin-10 did not kill her, if it did nothing more then nothing then it would be a possible solution to try. In the past I’ve spent more on less. I will be talking with my vet, doing more research and were there a reliable test that did not cost me my budget in hay/feed for the herd I’d give it a try.
Please, we may disagree at times, but let’s try to be civil. Better things happen that way.
