[ExI] Jaw-dropping CWRU Alzheimer's breakthrough?

[spike]

>... On Behalf Of The Avantguardian
Subject: Re: [ExI] Jaw-dropping CWRU Alzheimer's breakthrough?

 From: spike <spike66 at att.net>
Subject: Re: [ExI] Jaw-dropping CWRU Alzheimer's breakthrough?

 
>>...Come on, my fellow extropians, toss me a bone here, offer a suggestion,
talk me out of this if there is a good reason this is a bad idea. 
Otherwise, suggest a place where I might get some bexarotene.  I feel like I
am sailing uncharted waters alone.

>...You could befriend a prole pharmacy tech... Stuart LaForge

Hmmm, thanks for the suggestion Avant, but this is out of the question.
That could put the pharmatech at risk.  But I might consider finding a
lymphoma patient and buying exactly one tablet of Targretin from her.  

What I need is some means of determining if a mysterious white powder is
actually bexarotene.  I don't know how that is done, but I can imagine there
are plenty of unscrupulous types that are trying to sell who knows what as
bexarotene.  

A few minutes ago I learned from a private source that Eisai's supply of
Targretin is very nearly exhausted.  Imagine that.  At this point I
specifically want to go around Targretin and get unrefined bexarotene, so as
to not compete with those who need Targretin.  

The ethical dilemmas pile high.  The demand for Targretin has been steady
for at least 11 years, but now it has gone crazy.  It isn't easy to ramp up
production of that stuff overnight.  So it is likely that cancer patients
will do without, for having to compete with every yahoo hoping to cure AD,
which is 1000 times more common that T-cell lymphoma.  I can see why Dr.
Landreth would be reluctant to spill this result, while simultaneously being
reluctant to not spill this result.

Stuart, good thinking, me lad!  Let's try something else, like attempting to
synthesize bex at home, or failing that, some means of uncovering the purity
of this substance.  The recreational drug community has spawned a million of
amateur chemists, for their needs are pretty similar to ours right now.
Let's have these guys come forth, and offer suggestions.

spike