The Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Research Foundation

 
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10-30-2002

Dr. Peter Ball MD, HBSC, FRCP
Honorary Senior Lecturer
C/O
School of Biomedical Sciences
University of St Andrews
Fife, Scotland

RE: Adverse Drug Reactions Associated with Fluoroquinolone Therapy


Dear Dr. Ball,
I am writing you in the hope that you may be of some assistance to the various members of the quinolone adverse drug reaction forum, to which I am a member. For more than two years now I have been researching the ADRs of this class of antibiotics. Your name has appeared on numerous such articles and you have been quoted extensively in others. This has given me the impression that you possess a tremendous amount of knowledge regarding these drugs and perhaps, even to be considered an expert.
Recently the members of this forum have participated in a research project headed by Dr. Cohen in which the association of peripheral neuropathy and fluoroquinolone therapy was addressed. His findings have been published in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy. As Dr. Cohen noted the most prevailing complaint of the members of the forum and those that choose to participate in his study, was the fact that the patient’s physicians had repeatedly failed to recognize, treat, and report the adverse reactions to fluoroquinolones when such events manifested.
I have read numerous articles that read like paid endorsements, in which the authors minimize, even trivialize, the serious adverse events associated with such therapy. I have also read articles in which the authors bring to our attention the severe, crippling, and non-abating nature of such events in a subset of those undergoing such therapy. I have yet to find any article in which the exact nature of such events is discussed and a definitive cause addressed. Despite the fact that tendon rupture and damage has been reported time and again over the past twenty years, beginning in 1982 (Casperian et al) as to being associated with fluoroquinolone therapy the members physicians claim to have no knowledge of this association. As a result these patients have been told time and again that “…it cannot be the drug”. Having been abandoned by the medical community they gather on the internet discussing the horrendous damage their bodies have incurred as a result of such therapy. They have been forced to do their own research and to be become their own doctors. Often times self-medicating with over the counter, and at times, illicit drugs in a desperate attempt to find relief. This only results in additional harm to such patients, and perhaps resulting in a fatal outcome.
Hence the reason for my addressing you. Perhaps you could take a moment and provide us with a short discourse regarding the causation and treatment of the following events. This list is in no way all inclusive of the ADRs of this class of drugs but they appear to be those of the utmost concern to the members. My research consists of over 400 medical publications, clinical studies, research reports, and the like. The majority of which is far to technical to be of any real value to the members. As one such physician to whom this research was presented to stated “…would not be read by the doctors and used as toilet paper…” As they will not listen to the patient perhaps they will listen to one of their peers who they hold in high esteem.
The number one complaint appears to be severe muscle and tendon damage which has proven to be non-abating and crippling. Several members are in wheel chairs and their physicians stymied as to what to do. Others have suffered for over five years spending hundreds of thousands of dollars with no progress being made. Perhaps you could take a moment and explain how this damage occurs and what if anything can be done about it.
As Dr. Cohen reported, another major concern is the manifestation of peripheral neuropathy in which the pain is so intense that members have become house bound. One member in particular has been house bound for over six years now, as the touching of clothes on the skin is unbearable. Perhaps once again you could take a moment and explain how this damage occurs and what if anything can be done about it.
The mental fog, panic attacks, psychotic behavior, and other mental changes have also been reported. Once again non-abating in nature. Several members have reported the inability to perform simple task, remembering the spelling of words they had learned in the first grade, getting disoriented in familiar surroundings. It has been stated to me that they feel as if Alzheimer’s is taking place. They are dazed and confused. Again I can find nothing that addresses these changes and what to do about them.

{Description of the adverse reactions suffered by the writer of this letter has been deleted due to ongoing litigation}

I, as well as other members of the forum, am in desperate need of information that I believe only you can provide. Our doctors need to know how this damage has occurred, what test to take, and what treatment protocol will be of value. Having wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to find the answer, I felt that even if this proves to be a futile effort on my part to address you in this manner, it would not hurt to waste an overseas stamp. I, together with the members, need a miracle. A miracle I believe you are capable of providing having read each and every one of your papers on this subject. Tell me doctor, what is happening to my body and what, if anything can be done about it.

Respectfully yours,

Member of the quinolone adverse drug reaction forum
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quinolones

{NO response was ever received from Dr. Ball to date, either on the forum of via personal correspondence}