Maddin's Affidavit No. I am the Emeritus Clinical Professor of the Division of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, at the University of British Columbia. Although I do not know exactly who used the Miralex Skin Cream, the marketing literature that I have reviewed for the product suggests that it was directed towards persons sufferring from psoriasis. Patients with dry scaling skin conditions such as eczema may also have been attracted to this product.
Psoriasis presents in several different clinical variants along with varying degrees of severity.
No one knows what causes psoriasis, though it is now generally accepted that it reflects both a genetic component as well as immunologic defect. One in three people report a family history of psoriasis, but there is no regular pattern of inheritance. There are cases in which patients with no apparent family history of the disease will develop psoriasis. The pathophysiologic mechanism of psoriasis has not yet been established, but recent reports suggest that superantigans may play a part by activating T-cells which through a cascade of events produce skin lesions. The growth of the skin cells are specifically programmed.