Motofen is higher priced than both Imodium and Lomotil, does not have a generic equivalent, and is only available by prescription in the United States. Many United States insurance companies do not include Motofen as one of their formulary drugs, causing consumers to pay the highest copay, if it is covered by their health insurance at all. This is most likely due to the high cost of the medication itself, and the fact that similar lower-priced medicines can help ease symptoms of diarrhea. The United States is currently the only country where Motofen tablets are prescribed, approved by the government, and sold. Miscellaneous information
Strangely, Motofen is only included in the Physicians Desk Reference (PDR) for the years 2005 and 2006 as a literal snippet entry. Nothing is said about the indications and usage, only the ingredients, current appearance (at the time of publishing), NDC#, and the quantities in which it is supplied. As of August 1, 2008, Motofen appears to have been discontinued by Valeant Pharmaceuticals. No reason has officially been released, and many severe irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) sufferers, for whom medications such as Imodium or Lomotil did not satisfactorily treat them, were left wondering why it was no longer available. The few pharmacists that were familiar with Motofen and their wholesalers were not given any notice either.
An embolism is the lodging of an embolus, a blockage-causing piece of material, inside a blood vessel. The embolus may be a blood clot (thrombus), a fat globule (fat embolism), a bubble of air or other gas (gas embolism), amniotic fluid (amniotic fluid embolism), or foreign material. An embolism can cause partial or total blockage of blood flow in the affected vessel. Such a blockage (a vascular occlusion) may affect a part of the body distant from the origin of the embolus. An embolism in which the embolus is a piece of thrombus is called a thromboembolism. An embolism is usually a pathological event, i.e., accompanying illness or injury. Sometimes it is created intentionally for a therapeutic reason, such as to stop bleeding or to kill a cancerous tumor by stopping its blood supply. Such therapy is called embolization. Classification
There are different types of embolism, some of which are listed below. Embolism can be classified based on where it enters the circulation, either in arteries or in veins. Arterial embolism are those that follow and, if not dissolved on the way, lodge in a more distal part of the systemic circulation. Sometimes, multiple classifications apply; for instance a pulmonary embolism is classified as an arterial embolism as well, in the sense that the clot follows the pulmonary artery carrying deoxygenated blood away from the heart. However, pulmonary embolism is generally classified as a form of venous embolism, because the embolus forms in veins, e.g. deep vein thrombosis.