Patient Harm
USA Today Reports Counterfeit Drugs A Huge Portion of Fake Consumer Products Available for Sale Online
From chainsaws that come apart while in use to medications that don’t work or make people sick, products for sale online are increasingly being found to be counterfeited. An April 30th report in USA Today points out that dangerous fake goods are easily found for sale on the Internet, and counterfeit medication numbers among the…
[...]Texas Experiences Rash of Fake Dermal Filler Injuries, 3 People So Far Indicted in Scam
In Hidalgo, Texas, three different beauticians are accused of injecting patients with toxic, non-medical silicone or other liquid plastics instead of an FDA-approved dermal filler. In all, 30 patients report health issues, and at least one has died. On the 19th of the month, Elva Navarro, owner of Bella Face and Body Spa in McAllen,…
[...]Drugs purchased from a legitimate-looking online pharmacy killed an American ExPat
Marcia Bergeron died in British Columbia in December 2006 from heavy metal poisoning caused by the prescription medications she had purchased from a fake online pharmacy. Friends and family were shocked, because Marcia’s health was robust, and she thought she was suffering from the common flu.
[...]Missouri Businesswoman Dies After Fake Anemia Drugs Delay Cancer Treatments
In March 2002, oncology nurses in Missouri at discovered that their patient, Maxine Blount, had been taking Procrit that was only one-twentieth the strength it should have been. The counterfeit did not treat her anemia, leading to delays between chemotherapy infusions that allowed her cancer to advance much more rapidly. She died in October 2002.
In 2005, her brother testified before Congress: if her drugs had been genuine “she would have lived longer…experienced much less pain and suffering, and have been able to spend more time with her family.”
[...]Honoring the 5th Anniversary of Marcia Bergeron’s Passing
Five years ago today, Marcia Bergeron suddenly passed away. Marcia thought she had a common virus, but her symptoms were actually caused by the poisonous fake medications, and instead of getting better, she died suddenly of heavy metals poisoning. The coroner’s report determined that Marcia died of cardiac arrhythmia caused by metal toxicity. The…
[...]Rick Roberts, a counterfeit drug victim, spoke at the 2010 Interchange
Fake online pharmacies can kill
“The people behind these rogue websites are people without a conscience. They’re simply murderers. They killed my friend […] They don’t think about what the consequences are, that somebody could end up sick, somebody could end up dead.”
[...]Friend Relives Details of Death from Medicine Purchased Online
Glenda Billerbeck, visiting for Christmas, said goodbye to her friend Marcia Bergeron, not knowing the flu she thought her friend had was actually heavy metal poisoning which would kill her the same day.
[...]Counterfeit Prescription Drugs Purchased Online Suspected in Two Deaths
Gardaí issued a warning about the use of counterfeit medication following the accidental death of two men in Tralee, Ireland. Gardaí in Kerry believe counterfeit tranquilizers purchased over the internet were involved in the deaths of two men, one in his late 20s, and the other in his early 30s, reports The Irish Examiner. Detective…
[...]UK Paramedic Dies of Accidental Overdose of Drugs Sold Through Foreign Online Pharmacy
The death of a London paramedic has been ruled accidental after she ingested a fatal dose of pills purchased from a foreign online pharmacy.
Lorna Lambden, 27, a paramedic and Masters Degree student at the University of Hertfordshire, was found dead in her home on December 17, 2010, after ingesting pills purchased over the internet without a prescription, reports the Daily Mail.
The coroner, Edward Thomas, found a fatal level of the drug amitriptyline in her blood. Thomas added that the medication had not been prescribed to Lambden, but suspected she purchased an equivalent called “amitrip” from a foreign internet-based pharmacy.
Said Thomas, “…four milligrams [worth of amitriptyline were] found in her blood, and a therapeutic level is about one milligram.” He went on to say that after taking the drug she collapsed and suffered a cardiac arrhythmia, reports the St. Albans Review.
Lambden’s family knew that she had trouble sleeping and suspect she purchased the medication to rest between twelve hour shifts with the London Ambulance Service, reports the London Metro.
Lambden’s mother, a retired accident and emergency sister, said: “It’s terrible that these drugs are so freely available online and people can buy them without seeing any warnings about the harm they can do.”
Coroner Thomas said: “Amitriptyline can stop the heart and I think that is likely here. Lorna would not have known it had happened. It would not have been like a heart attack.”