Bad Medicine
Good News/Bad News. If you are now currently taking the medicine Digitek then you have a very serious problem. It appears that Digitek is bad news, at least right now it is, if you are taking it, you could be receiving a “DOUBLE DOSE” which is not going to be a fun ride.
A freind of mine in Denver, who is not a big fan of doctors and the medical profession in general. Will always comment to me when she hears about them screwing up with “that is why the call it PRACTICING MEDICINE they most always never get it right.” Sadly, she is often more right than she is wrong.
As we Baby Boomers gray out, medicine becomes more and more prevalent in our lives. I personally take a #3 washtub full of prescriptions for diabetes every day. You could fill a Ford Fairlane hubcap with all the required medical-lug-nuts I have to shove down my neck to just stay alive. It is incredible.
One good thing about the internet is there is the opportunity to do something good every now and then, with the rapid distribution of information. Here is a sample:
WARNING:
THIS CRAP CAN KILL YOU …
IT CAN MAKE YOU SICKER THAN A DOG.
Recently the FDA those wonderful folks who are always a dollar short and a day late, recalled the drug Digitek, which is manufactured by Activis Totowa LLC. What is especially damaging or disturbing is that now some ten days later, patients who do take this drug are still basically in the dark.
This heart medication sold by Mylan was made in a Acavis plant that received FDA letters about manufacturing problems over ONE YEAR AGO. News about the April 2008 Digitek recall came first in the form of a brief company press release dated April 25, which was followed by an FDA MedWatch Safety Alert posted April 28 on the agency’s web site.
The product is being recalled due to the possibility that tablets with double the appropriate thickness may contain twice the approved level of active ingredient. The existence of double strength tablets poses a risk of digitalis toxicity in patents with renal failure. Digitalis toxicity can cause nausea, vomiting, dizziness, low blood pressure, cardiac instability and bradycardia. Several reports of illnesses and injuries have been reported.
Patients should contact their healthcare professional with questions, patients are being contacted by their pharmacists who, admittedly, know nothing more about the situation than what was set forth in the April 25 half-page press release about this “Class 1 nationwide recall of Digitek (digoxin pills, USP, all strengths)”.
Understandably, patients are asking how far back in time they have been getting and taking Digitek pills that may have contained double the intended dose of active ingredient. A friend of mine who takes this stuff, was feeling pretty rank, and when he went to refill the prescription, the pharmacist would not refill it and then informed him of the problem. Kind of locking the barn door after the horse has already left philosophy by the FDA wouldn’t you say.
This is not the first time that there have been manufacturing problems at the Actavis Totowa facility in New Jersey, which was acquired as part of the takeover of Amide Pharmaceuticals by Actavis in May 2005, although the spokesperson said these earlier issues were entirely unrelated to the current incident. Just over a year ago Actavis Totowa was sent a warning letter by the FDA after an agency inspection revealed that drugs products manufactured in the facility were ‘adulterated’.
It sure would be nice if the government would step up to the plate and do it’s job. The timely distribution of possibly dangerous drugs should be a priority for the FDA. Certainly the media and the means is in place to do this. What do we have to do … drop dead and then someone will say … Uh, you think we ought to say something about this?
I know this is not light-hearted and most certainly not an uplifting post as is my nature, but in this case having felt the need for serious discourse on this subject, I decided to risk it. But I feel that if we can use this media (the internet - wordpress.com) to reach ONE PERSON that is taking this adulterated (possibly very dangerous) medicine, then it is worth the effort put forth.
If you are taking this garbage, check with your family physician or your druggist/pharmacy post haste, this is a serious matter. The old expression “What don’t make you sick, makes you better” no longer applies in this country.
Talk to someone about this today.
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