“Death by Levaquin” Brain/Body Toxic Drug

It seems that some of us are abandoned by the very institution that put us in this predicament in the first place.  Another sad Levaquin story.  It is hard enough dealing with this toxicity but the refusal of acknowledgement of fluoroquinolone poisoning makes it even more difficult.

I developed this illness after a dose of Levaquin and Macrobid.  I am 80 years old.  All I had was a mild bladder infection.  Now I cann’t tell you how many things are wrong and don’t know where to turn.  The doctor that prescribed these drugs terminated being my doctor stating I was uncooperative.  This is like telling a dog headed for execution to stop quivering.  I am so angry.  The new doctor apparently doesn’t know anything about this.  I took the report into his office and her refused to acknowledge them and told me to take them home.  Then he wanted an explanation of my symptems in a superficial manner.  What am I – a guinea pig that failed the test. Dolores 

Chantix: ‘Disposable Heroes’: Veterans Used To Test Suicide-Linked Drugs
An ABC News and Washington Times Investigation Reveals Vets Are Being Recruited for Government Tests on Drugs with Violent Side Effects

By BRIAN ROSS and VIC WALTER
June 17, 2008
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5180437&page=1

Mentally distressed veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are being recruited for government tests on pharmaceutical drugs linked to suicide and other violent side effects, an investigation by ABC News and The Washington Times has found.

The report will air on Good Morning America and will also appear in The Washington Times on Tuesday. (click here to read the Washington Times coverage of “Disposable Heroes”)

In one of the human experiments, involving the anti-smoking drug Chantix, Veterans Administration doctors waited more than three months before warning veterans about the possible serious side effects, including suicide and neuropsychiatric behavior.

“Lab rat, guinea pig, disposable hero,” said former US Army sniper James Elliott in describing how he felt he was betrayed by the Veterans Administration.

Elliott, 38, of suburban Washington, D.C., was recruited, at $30 a month, for the Chantix anti-smoking study three years after being diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He served a 15-month tour of duty in Iraq from 2003-2004.

Months after he began taking the drug, Elliott suffered a mental breakdown, experiencing a relapse of Iraq combat nightmares he blames on Chantix.

“They never told me that I was going to be suicidal, that I would cease sleeping. They never told me anything except this will help me quit smoking,” Elliott told ABC News and The Washington Times.

On the night of February 5th, after consuming a few beers, Elliott says he “snapped” and left his home with a loaded gun.

His fiancee, Tammy, called police and warned, “He’s extremely unstable. He has PTSD.”

“Do you think that he is going to shoot or attack the police?” the 911 dispatcher asked.

“I can’t be certain. I don’t know,” she said. (click here to hear part of Tammy’s 911 call)

“He was operating as if he was back in theater, in combat theater,” she told ABC News. “And of course, a soldier goes nowhere without a gun.”

When police arrived, they found Elliott in the street, with the gun in the front pocket of his hooded sweatshirt.

“Are you going to shoot me? Shoot me,” Elliott said, according to the police report. (click here to see the police report)

Police used a Taser gun to stun Elliott and placed him under arrest.

It wasn’t until three weeks later that the Veterans Administration advised the veterans in the Chantix study that the drug may cause serious side effects, including “anxiety, nervousness, tension, depression, thoughts of suicide, and attempted and completed suicide.”

The VA’s letter to the veterans, on February 29, 2008, followed three warnings from the FDA and Chantix’ maker Pfizer, that were issued on November 20, 2007, January 18, 2008 and February 1, 2008. (click here to read the FDA warning and click here to read Pfizer’s statement on Chantix)

“How this study continued in the face of these difficulties is almost impossible to understand,” said Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania.

Doctors at the Veterans Administration say they acted as quickly as they could.

“This didn’t justify an emergency warning at that level,” said Dr. Miles McFall, co-administrator of the VA study.

Dr. McFall said there is no proof that Elliott’s breakdown was caused by Chantix and he sees no reason to discontinue the study. Some 140 veterans diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder continue to receive Chantix as part of a smoking cessation study.

Dr. McFall says the VA decided to continue the Chantix study because “it would be depriving our veterans of an effective method of treatment to help them stop smoking.”

Caplan, one of the country’s leading medical ethicists, said he was stunned by the VA’s decision to continue the Chantix experiment.

“Why take the group most a risk and keep them going? That doesn’t make any sense, once you know the risk is there,” he said.

Chantix is one of the drugs being used in an estimated 25 clinical studies using veterans by the VA.

Pfizer maintains that “the benefits of Chantix outweigh the risks” and that it continues to do further studies on the drug.

The FAA has prohibited commercial airline pilots from using Chantix because of its possible side effects.

I saw a 60 Minutes special last Sunday and one of the segments was some lady who wrote to Michelle Obama about organic food and planting an organic garden. It was about a 15 minute segment. Anybody can write to the First Lady or the rest of the White House staff. There is an online form below or anybody can mail a letter to the physical address. I mailed out a quinolone literature packet along with a Lariam article to Michelle Obama. I’ll send a quinolone packet each month to a different White House VIP. I doubt anything would ever be done about this subject. It is like throwing darts at a dartboard that is very far away. Most attempts never connect to the intended target. You never know though. You have to try. Maybe somebody in the White House or one of their relatives had an adverse reaction to Levaquin, Cipro, Avelox, Floxin ect. and they are upset enough to do something about this toxicity.  

http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/

http://www.ehow.com/how_4733980_letter-first-lady-michelle-obama.html

One of the many brain tests I have had done is a test called a Somatosensory evoked potentials test. ( SEP ) Median test.  I had never heard of this type of test prior to my floxing. The write-up says the test measures stimulation of the two median nerves while recording over the C5 spinous process and over the contralateral somatosensory cortex. The result says that I have dysfunction within the left hemisphere sensory cortex. I have N20 amplitude loss with right median nerve stimulation.

No solutions are offered from Neurologist other than prescribing prescription medications for my symptoms. I guess time, pain meds, and a good diet is the only thing that helps.

Sebelius Congratulates New FDA Commissioner Peggy Hamburg

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today congratulated new Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Margaret “Peggy” Hamburg after her nomination was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate.

“Dr. Hamburg is an inspiring public health leader with broad experience in infectious disease, bioterrorism, and health policy,” said Sebelius. “Her expertise and judgment will serve FDA well.”

>Sebelius also praised Acting Commissioner and Principal Deputy Josh Sharfstein and the career professionals who serve at the FDA for their hard work and dedication.

>“Josh and the employees at FDA have worked diligently to protect the American people,” added Sebelius. “Time and again, they have demonstrated their professionalism and commitment to ensuring the food we eat and the medicines and products we use are safe.”

A brief biography of Dr. Hamburg is included below:

Dr. Hamburg is a nationally and internationally recognized leader in public health and medicine, and an authority on global health, public health systems, infectious disease, bioterrorism and emergency preparedness. She served as the Nuclear Threat Initiative’s founding Vice President for the Biological Program. Before joining NTI, she was the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Prior to this, she served for six years as the Commissioner of Health for the City of New York and as the Assistant Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health.

….Employees at the FDA have worked diligently to protect the american people?  …Did the tens of thousands of us that were poisoned by fluoroquinolones just slip through the cracks? 

Good website with valuable information on pharmaceutical practices.

http://www.pharmedout.org/

Thanks for all of these posts about Levaquin.   For those of you who have experienced the negative effects of this drug, I hope you will be able to recover soon.   In my case, I was prescribed Levaquin by my oncologist in order to help me get over a bronchial infection that has persisted for at least two months.  After my first 500 mg dose, I seemed to have some immediate relief from the infection, but there appeared to be related side effects like sleeplessness, drymouth, cloudy headiness and stomach cramping.  I also noticed addtional pain in my right ankle, which was being treated for pseudogout.   Before taking another pill, I decided to check the contraindications of Levaquin.   To my surprise there were many and one was a potential adverse affect on tendons and joints.   At that point I suspected that the drug was actually exascurbating my existing pseudogout problem.  When I called my foot specialist, they had no knowledge whether Levaquin could be making the pseudogou
 t problem get worse.   As a test, I tried taking another Levaquin pill last night and within 6-8 hours my ankle pain got noticebly worse.   This experience and comments in this blog has totally convinced me not to take any more Levaquin.   I can believe it could be effective on my bronchial infection, however I don’t want to cause more harm to my ankle.

Here is another tragic story submitted. This lady sums up this situation very well in her two paragraph statement.

Three years ago my daughter was given moxifloxacin (Avelox) after some other drugs had been ineffective in clearing up a gum infection.  It cleared the infection within a week but replaced it with instant tendon and joint pains which have continued to worsen and are now widespread, more painful and crippling.  It has changed her whole life !!  The warnings in the drug literature are inadequate and misleading, therefore Australian doctors don’t often recognise the connection and think up other “possible” reasons.

As there is no visable trauma, despite the coincident occurence, they leave the person without help (if there is any) or worse still – the validation and understanding of their condition.   There must surely be enough doctors and pharmacologists in USA to form a strong lobby against the continued
use of fluoroquinolones except in life and death situations.  The FDA is failing in its role to ensure safety – the public are being left to the role of guinea pigs

Here is an very well  done blog just started by Beebs from the  www.Favc.info forum. Beebs had a serious long term adverse reaction to multiple drugs including quinolones. She has excellent research skills and is very informative. Thank you Beebs for trying to make a difference in the lives of other people. It is very much appreciated by all of us. I hope your blog reaches far and wide.

http://adr-centralreactiontomedications.blogspot.com/