There are many effective medications to manage the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease but there’s a catch – you have to take them, often on a demanding schedule.

Until now. Two tried-and-true drugs are newly available in a continuous pump. And MMC patients are among the first in the nation to use them.

“This is a game-changer,” Dr. Iyer explains. “We have effective treatments, but the biggest challenge is the way we dose them. When patients take an oral dose, if it’s a little too much, they may experience dyskinesia (involuntary movement), and as it wears off, they can freeze up. Our brains naturally release dopamine all the time in a very steady stream, and these pumps recreate that consistent, around-the-clock release.”

The drugs aren’t a cure, but they level out the “roller coaster” of on/off times. For MMC patient Robert McMillan, this meant presenting his daughter at her debutante ball. “I received the pump a week before the event, and the effects were almost immediate. I’d been so anxious about my dyskinesia being a distraction, but I walked her across the room and we danced and all eyes were on her.”

Parkinson’s disease is caused by the loss of dopamine-producing neurons in a section of the mid-brain. The two pumps dispense different medications to compensate:

• Vyalev was approved for use in the United States in October, 2024, and dispenses levodopa, which converts to dopamine in the brain. Levodopa has long been the mainstay of treatment for Parkinson’s.
• Onapgo was approved in February, 2025 and dispenses apomorphine, a dopamine agonist that mimics dopamine. This drug doesn’t rely on a patient’s failing neurons to convert, and it’s been available as a rescue pen.

Both pumps have been used in Europe for years, where they’ve proven to be very safe. The pumps are small, easy to operate, and most of all – convenient.

April Jackson was among the first MMC patients to receive a pump. The working mom of four struggled to remember her oral medications, and often experienced dyskinesia as a result. Her son uses an insulin pump, and maintaining their devices together has been a bonding experience. “I forget I have it on! I sleep with it and wake up without any freezing. I’m surprised by how ‘on’ I am all the time, and because this bypasses the digestive tract, I only need about half my oral dose.”

Dr. Iyer agrees. “These are life-chang­ing, liberating treatment options, because they reduce the number of times a day a patient thinks about Parkinson’s. You just turn it on in the morning and there’s no need to schedule the day around medi­cation. I’m very excited for all the patients who will benefit from these and other thera­pies on the horizon.”