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Prescription for harm: Dangerous drug mix leaves woman fighting for life
Karisa King and Sam Roe Contact Reporters Chicago Tribune
Feb 11, 2016 The first symptoms mimicked the flu. Becki Conway had a sore throat, a dry cough and irritated sinuses.
But the next signs were more puzzling.
A sharp pain radiated through her chest. Her eyes turned red and itchy. It seemed like she was fighting off some strange bug, or maybe it was just the normal exhaustion of keeping up with twin toddlers.
Then the scalding rash began.
Red spots popped up on Conway's face and neck. The next day, painful sores appeared in her mouth and then her throat.
Within hours Conway was in a hospital bed, watching with alarm as the rash spread across her torso, arms and face. The red dots turned into blisters that welted so quickly it looked like her skin was burning from the inside out.
No treatment could stop it. Within a day or two she wasn't recognizable. Eventually, the rash covered her eyelids with blisters and attacked the lining of her lungs. Her skin peeled off in sheets.
...
Many interactions involve relatively safe drugs that become dangerous only when taken at the same time. Hundreds of risky combinations involve common antibiotics, blood thinners, antidepressants, cholesterol drugs and medicine to treat migraines, heart problems and high blood pressure.
The tragedy is that much of the harm is preventable. The particular drug interaction that hospitalized Conway was identified years ago. But experts estimate that thousands of patients still become sick every year from drug interactions because of errors and neglect by front-line providers of medical care.
...
"When you look at it from every conceivable aspect, the system is badly broken," said Philip Hansten, a professor of pharmacy at the University of Washington who has studied drug interactions for nearly 50 years. "It's really disheartening to see people are still dying from interactions we've known about for decades."
...
Conway spent the next two months unable to open her eyes and later received training on how to walk with the help of a long white cane. In the years since, she has slowly regained her strength, taking long walks and working on home repair projects with her husband.
But the trauma left Conway legally blind. In her left eye she can see only shadows and light. By holding a computer tablet close to her right eye and magnifying the text, she can read in limited amounts.
She can't drive a car or watch the kids at sports events or read a paperback book.
She also suffers stabbing pains in her eyes from nerve damage, leaving her unable to get out of bed on her worst days. She must frequently apply medicated eyedrops because her tear ducts were destroyed. She fights a constant cough caused by her lung injuries. The family now lives in Florida where the high humidity provides some relief for her eyes.
...
Bellinger stopped prescribing the two drugs together after Conway became ill, he said in a deposition. It wasn't worth the risk, he decided.
The case did not appear to change anything for Hamelin, the pharmacist who handled the prescriptions. He testified he would not have a problem filling the same order again....
Karisa King and Sam Roe Contact Reporters Chicago Tribune
Feb 11, 2016 The first symptoms mimicked the flu. Becki Conway had a sore throat, a dry cough and irritated sinuses.
But the next signs were more puzzling.
A sharp pain radiated through her chest. Her eyes turned red and itchy. It seemed like she was fighting off some strange bug, or maybe it was just the normal exhaustion of keeping up with twin toddlers.
Then the scalding rash began.
Red spots popped up on Conway's face and neck. The next day, painful sores appeared in her mouth and then her throat.
Within hours Conway was in a hospital bed, watching with alarm as the rash spread across her torso, arms and face. The red dots turned into blisters that welted so quickly it looked like her skin was burning from the inside out.
No treatment could stop it. Within a day or two she wasn't recognizable. Eventually, the rash covered her eyelids with blisters and attacked the lining of her lungs. Her skin peeled off in sheets.
...
Many interactions involve relatively safe drugs that become dangerous only when taken at the same time. Hundreds of risky combinations involve common antibiotics, blood thinners, antidepressants, cholesterol drugs and medicine to treat migraines, heart problems and high blood pressure.
The tragedy is that much of the harm is preventable. The particular drug interaction that hospitalized Conway was identified years ago. But experts estimate that thousands of patients still become sick every year from drug interactions because of errors and neglect by front-line providers of medical care.
...
"When you look at it from every conceivable aspect, the system is badly broken," said Philip Hansten, a professor of pharmacy at the University of Washington who has studied drug interactions for nearly 50 years. "It's really disheartening to see people are still dying from interactions we've known about for decades."
...
Conway spent the next two months unable to open her eyes and later received training on how to walk with the help of a long white cane. In the years since, she has slowly regained her strength, taking long walks and working on home repair projects with her husband.
But the trauma left Conway legally blind. In her left eye she can see only shadows and light. By holding a computer tablet close to her right eye and magnifying the text, she can read in limited amounts.
She can't drive a car or watch the kids at sports events or read a paperback book.
She also suffers stabbing pains in her eyes from nerve damage, leaving her unable to get out of bed on her worst days. She must frequently apply medicated eyedrops because her tear ducts were destroyed. She fights a constant cough caused by her lung injuries. The family now lives in Florida where the high humidity provides some relief for her eyes.
...
Bellinger stopped prescribing the two drugs together after Conway became ill, he said in a deposition. It wasn't worth the risk, he decided.
The case did not appear to change anything for Hamelin, the pharmacist who handled the prescriptions. He testified he would not have a problem filling the same order again....