Dear IBSVoice Panelist,

Many of our panelists have asked us to update them on DrugVoice's 
IBS survey results and the impact we are having in the IBS community.

So far, over 2,000 people have completed the extensive IBSVoice 
survey, which makes it one of the largest and most far-reaching 
studies of IBS patients ever conducted.   As expected, people 
have their own unique ways of managing their IBS, but there are 
common themes such as:

1.  Frustration With Physicians
Although a minority of IBS panelists think their physicians are 
wonderful, most of you are frustrated and dissatisfied with how 
physicians treat IBS patients.  Many physicians need to better
understand IBS and the difficulties it can create in their 
patients' lives, to improve how they interact with their IBS 
patients.

2.  Lack of Safe, Reliable and Effective IBS Therapies
Most panelists want new options - drugs or alternative therapies - that 
have a greater impact on their symptoms, especially the ability to prevent
symptoms.  Lotronex was an effective solution for a number of panelists 
with diarrhea-predominant IBS, but many others reported the type of 
side effect issues that ultimately led to the removal of this product 
from the market.

3.  Trial and Error Disease Management
Many panelists rely on significant trial and error to treat their
particular mix of symptoms.  They try various combinations of diet,
stress management, medications, and alternative therapies to arrive
at a solution that works for them.  It's clear from the wide variety
of responses that there is not a "one size fits all" solution for our
panelists.

Many of you have joined the DrugVoice IBS panel specifically to 
make a difference in IBS treatment.  Aggregate data from the survey
(without any personally identifying information) have been shared 
with and used by 3 major pharmaceutical companies, 2 nutritional 
product manufacturers, and leading IBS physicians to help them 
better understand IBS from the patient's perspective.  DrugVoice 
has also shared our findings with the Lotronex Action Group 
(http://www.lotronexactiongroup.org), who are lobbying the FDA to 
return Lotronex to the market, as well as with the IBS Self Help Group 
(http://www.ibsgroup.org), a leading community of IBS sufferers. We are 
working to broaden access to others in the medical community who 
would benefit from learning more about IBS patients.

During the next few months, DrugVoice will conduct additional surveys
with panel members on particular IBS issues.  If your background 
matches our survey criteria, and you agreed to participate in 
additional surveys, you will receive an e-mail invitation from 
DrugVoice asking for your input.  We hope that you will take advantage
of this opportunity to keep making an impact on IBS treatment.

Thank you for your continued input and commitment to helping 
the IBS patient.

Yours Truly,

Melissa Krauth
President, DrugVoice LLC
http://www.drugvoice.com