Lotronex Action Group Newsletter				
Issue #1
Jan. 19, 2001

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Welcome to the first edition of the Lotronex Action Group weekly 
newsletter!  This newsletter will bring you the latest information on 
what LAG has been up to and ways you can help our battle to bring 
Lotronex back.  

Needed:  catchy newsletter name.  Send your ideas to 
[email protected]

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News from the Coordinators:

This section will include news from our 3 coordinators, Richard 
Fireman, Tom Bell, and Corey Miller.  These 3 are a hard-working and 
dedicated group.  Their work is sure to help us in our efforts to 
bring Lotronex back.

Next week:  Meet the coordinators, learn what their goals for LAG 
are, and hear what they have been up to.


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What can you do to help?  
	
This section will give you addresses and contacts you can write to, 
telling your personal story of living with Irritable Bowel Syndrome 
and your experiences with Lotronex.  This section will also include 
tips on how to improve your letters�how to make them more
personal, how to make a clear point, and how to draw a forceful 
conclusion. The more we write, the better our voices will be heard.  

To prepare yourself for the task, take a minute this weekend to write 
down the highlights of your history with IBS and Lotronex.  You will 
want to include information on how long you have had IBS, how IBS 
affects your daily life, and how Lotronex affected you.

Address and contact information will also be posted on the web page 
(we'll let you know when it is up) and in the database section of
e-groups.

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"There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world,
and that is an idea whose time has come."  Victor Hugo

IBS' time has come!  No longer will we cower in our toilet
stalls.  We need to come forward to the medical profession, to 
researchers, to pharmaceutical companies, to the media�If our
voice can be heard, we will be helped!

"Heroes are created by popular demand, sometimes out of the
scantiest materials, or none at all."
Gerald W. Johnson, American Heroes and Hero-Worship

We have a rare opportunity to be heroes here.  Not just to IBS 
sufferers who benefited from Lotronex, but more importantly to 
yourself.  Think about how good you will feel knowing you took action 
to help bring back a drug that helped you so much!  Don't accept
the removal of Lotronex, fight it instead!


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Reminders:

There is a new group on e-groups, Lotronex Support.  This group is
"a support and information group for people who have used
Lotronex. Affiliated with the Lotronex Action Group."  Subscribe
to 
the group by sending an email to 
[email protected].  

Discuss your IBS symptoms and get news, research, help and more on 
www.ibsgroup.org

Keep on posting to the Lotronex group�tell us who you have
written to and what their responses have been!  

GREETER VOLUNTEER NEEDED--The LAG is seeking a volunteer to become a 
greeter for new members interested in joining our group.  The posting 
with requirements listed is located at 
http://www.egroups.com/message/lotronex/594

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If you have any ideas/comments/feedback for the newsletter, please 
email them to Jocelyn at [email protected]