Clinical Trial Update: RINCE
n educational forum sponsored by St. Joseph Mercy Oakland (“SJMO”), intended for fibromyalgia patients and their families, was held on February 12th in Pontiac, Michigan. In addition to providing an update on related research, the forum was organized to introduce a new clinical study of a ver y promising noninvasive therapy for fibromyalgia and to provide background for patients interested in par ticipating in the study.
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orum speakers included Dr. Dan C lauw, a 20- year researcher in fibromyalgia and other chronic pain states. Dr. Clauw directs the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and is a worldrenowned exper t on chronic pain, with a par ticular focus on the use of advanced imaging modalities that can define the ch a rac te r i s t ic s o f pa i n pro cessing in the human brain. T he second speaker was Dr. Mike Gendreau, an exper t in
pharmacological treatments for chronic pain, especially fibromyalgia. Dr. Gendreau was the Chief Medical Officer of Cypress B i o s c i e n c e a n d re s p o n s i b l e for the clinical trials and FDA approval of the most recently approved dr ug for the treatment of fibromyalgia, Savella. The third speaker was Dr. Jeff Hargrove, a professor of engine e r i n g a nd a c h ron ic pa i n researcher who has devo te d more than 10 years to the study o f a ne w me tho d for treating fibromyalgia that uses low level electrical signals to stimulate pain processing centers that lie deep inside the brain. He invented a new method for deliver ing these signals in a completely painless and noninvasive way, and he helped to conduct an early Phase II study of this new therapy mode in people with fibromyalgia. The re s u l t s o f t h i s ra nd o m i z e d , double-blind, sham controlled study have been published in m e d i c a l j o u r n a l s , p re s e n te d at the last three annual meetings of the American College of Rheumatolog y (2010, 2011,
and 2012) and form the basis of the new study. Finally, Dr. Don Deering, the principal investigator of the new study that is being initiated at SJMO, discuss e d the up coming study, including the entr y cr iter ia , duration, and patient obligations if enrolled.
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