Woman Says Walgreens Caused Miscarriage

[Rhino]

Suit: Chemo drug led to miscarriage
Bloomberg News
October 19, 2007

Walgreen Co. has been sued by a Missouri woman and her husband who claim she had a miscarriage after a prescription for prenatal vitamins was filled with a chemotherapy drug carrying a similar brand name....http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-fri_brief2_1019oct19,0,6644474.story

[PrezLeefun]

WHOA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thats terrible.

[Kathy30]

It looks like someone was unfamiliar with reading English.

[Timberwolf]

My heart goes out to them...we were denied the joy of our first child due to a miscarriage.

[Jack_Savage]

Was it Edwards firm representing her, or was it Walgreens donating to Edwards. Both scenairo's are a sick aspect of todays society.

[Marshwiggle]

That is horrible... and the miscarriage may not be the worst of what this poor woman may have to yet endure...

There are long term side effects and risks associated with chemo drugs, including sterility, and other cancers....

This was a really bad mistake, and it could take years to realize just how bad... my heart goes out to her....

[Rhino]

Long term physical effects are extremely unlikely since she took it for less than a month. But what happened to her mentally and emotionally will be with her forever.

[Marshwiggle]

Long term physical effects are extremely unlikely since she took it for less than a month.

I am not so sure about that Rhino... I looked up the drug that they gave her by mistake, and it is called Matulane... it is some pretty potent stuff.....the pdf file here: http://www.matulane.com/pdf/prescribe-info.pdf it give the drug insert and prescribing information... according to that, the dosage is 100mg daily for 14 days... it also says that within 2-8 weeks, bone marrow depression begins occurring...

It also indicates that it is rapidly and completely absorbed, and peak plasma radioactive concentrations are reached within 60 minutes... and also crosses the blood brain barrier....

Chemotherapy damages DNA... it is of course its intended purpose in a cancer patient, but even in a cancer patient can cause other forms of cancer later down the road... the patient always has to weigh the risks of the cancer itself, with the risks of undergoing chemo....

I had chemo 7 years ago, and only had 4 treatments over a 3 month period, and I still suffer long term effects, 7 years later... and I know others who do as well...

Having said all of that, I do hope she doesn't have to deal with any of the physical effects in the future, and can heal emotionally from this horrendous mistake... someone's head really needs to roll over this... what she she has had to endure is terrible...

Wasn't trying to debate you or anything... it is just that this one hits me a little close to home...

[Rhino]

Bone marrow regenerates after you stop taking it. It doesn't damage DNA. It inhibits DNA synthesis, which also goes away after you stop taking it. It typically loses function about 14 days after you stop taking it. About the only long term effects are certain types of cancer, such as leukemia, but the chance of that is extremely unlikely, as I said before. I'm not discounting the possibility. I'm just addressing the likeliehood. But either way, she's still affected for life, emotionally if not physically.

[Marshwiggle]

Bone marrow regenerates after you stop taking it. It doesn't damage DNA. It inhibits DNA synthesis, which also goes away after you stop taking it. It typically loses function about 14 days after you stop taking it. About the only long term effects are certain types of cancer, such as leukemia, but the chance of that is extremely unlikely, as I said before. I'm not discounting the possibility. I'm just addressing the likeliehood. But either way, she's still affected for life, emotionally if not physically.


From http://pub.ucsf.edu/today/cache/feature/200609063.html :
But just as environmental exposures can cause DNA damage -- such as UV radiation from the sun -- radiation therapy and chemotherapy for cancer can also cause DNA damage.

Chemo can cause nerve damage, and heart damage... and osteoporosis because of the effect of certain types of chemo on the ovaries and hormones...

There really are all sorts of long term side (some permanent) effects from chemotherapy drugs...

Again, we both agree that she is affected either way...

[Rhino]

Oh, I agree that many chemo drugs have long term effects. But, from what I've read, this doesn't seem to be one of the nastier ones, so she will probably be spared that, thank God. And this one doesn't appear to be a p53 protein suppressor either, as addressed in your link.