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Buffalonian needs WNY's help to get FDA to approve a new treatment

According to national advocacy group "I Am ALS," most people with the disease have a survival rate of two to three years from their diagnosis.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — A Buffalo man battling ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, wants to try a new treatment that could give him more time to live.  

However, it hasn't been approved and is undergoing a review by the FDA.

The earliest it can be approved now would be September.   

It's currently known as AMX0035 in the U.S. and has already been approved in Canada (with conditions), but is known there as ALBRIOZA.

Eric Huet, 37, was diagnosed with neurodegenerative disease in 2019.

He's now in a wheelchair and it's also starting to affect his hands. 

There is no cure for ALS, and according to "I Am ALS," a national advocacy group for the disease, people battling the disease, on average, only live two to three years after the diagnosis. 

Their website says AMX0035, a combination of two drugs previously approved separately, could give people another year and a half. 

Huet wants more time and his family has been sharing the importance of getting AMX0035 for him on social media. 

There are now many Buffalonians who are reaching out to Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand to get them to put pressure on the FDA to get AMX0035 approved.

Huet struggled to find the words when asked him what that meant to him. 

"It means a lot and just when we've been out and I've needed any help, people locally..." Huet said. "...Everyone has been living up to the city of good neighbors label."

2 On Your Side asked both Sen. Schumer and Sen. Gillibrand if they would put pressure on the FDA but we're still waiting for a response. 

Huet doesn't want to go to Canada, adding people with ALS have a hard time doing many things, including traveling.

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