[nukkad] FW: IMPORTANT MEDICAL ALERT -- CEPHRADIN

[Kulkarni Abhay <kabhay@lmd.cgl.co.in>]

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Tip of the day:  No personal attacks and abusive behavior.
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>  -----Original Message-----
> From: DR. ASHOK KRISHNAN SERD
> Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2000 9:44 AM
> To: ALL at EDC; ALL AT ESB; All at SERD
> Subject: FW: IMPORTANT MEDICAL ALERT -- CEPHRADINE (Read and Forward) --
> 
> Sulekha
> 
> 
> 
> 
>    
> 
> From: http://www.sulekha.com , Online Indian Community -- The
> following is the frightening account of a friend of Sulekha
> whose vision was seriously imparied because of Cephradine,
> an antiobiotic he was precribed by a physician in India. He
> later found out that the side-effects of this drug are well-
> known and that Cephradine is only administered in life-
> threatening situations in the US and other Western countries.
> 
> Please forward this note to your friends and family
> (especially those in India) so they are fully informed of
> this dangerous drug Cephradine. Here is his story:
>  ------------------------
> 
> Last December, on our trip to India we visited Calcutta,
> Delhi and Bombay. While we were pleasantly surprised by the
> rapid growth of the information technology companies and the
> low-cost access to the internet, we were disturbed at the
> level of pollution and smog in the metropolitan cities. On
> the eve of our departure from Calcutta, I had contracted
> some bacterial throat infection that resulted in high fever.
> I had started taking Crocin (acetaminophen) and later that
> evening, met with a family-recommended doctor in Mayurvihar,
> Delhi. Considering our transient stay and travel plans, he
> prescribed an antibiotic - cephradine (3, ~200mg tablets per
> day for 5 days), an expectorant, and betadine germacide for
> gargling. The fever subsided in a couple of days, but I
> started to feel unusually weak and tired. I mean really weak
>  - I have traveled with high fever to distant places before
> but this experience was much worse. However, we thought that
> the weakness was a result of the high fever and the loss of
> appetite. I continued the medicine because the doctor had
> cautioned that I have to complete the full course even if I
> felt better. Everything else seemed fine except for the
> weakness.
> 
> The morning of the sixth day, in the airport, I suddenly
> experienced a very frightening feeling. I was not able to
> see clearly and all the images seemed blurred. It was very
> inconvenient to look around and I couldn't read any of the
> signs. I soon realized that I had acute double vision i.e. I
> was seeing two images of all objects - one from left eye and
> the other from the right eye. In Bombay, I went to the local
> opthalmologists, who suggested that the best cure is to
> relax and sleep, and not to strain the eye.
> 
> After returning to Austin, I underwent several eye
> examinations and was amazed to learn that the
> opthalmologists here (e.g. Dr. DeWolfe) were quite familiar
> with the side effects of cephradine. It seems that there are
> several cases wherein high doses of the first-generation
> cephalosporin antibiotics (the class of antibiotics that
> include drugs like cephradine and cefradroxil) have affected
> the audio and visual senses of the patients. In fact, the
> doctors in the United States prescribe very low doses of
> these antibiotics or avoid these drugs altogether. It is
> more popular as a veterianry medicine.
> 
> The double vision has reduced slightly now, but I continue
> to see two images for distant objects. I still cannot drive
> and will have to get special corrective lenses if the
> problem is persistent in February.
> 
> I would sincerely hope that the doctors in India would
> restrict the prescription of these drugs to a minimum and
> advise the patients about the possible side effects before
> administering or prescribing these antibiotics.
>  ------------
> Please forward this mail to your friends and family in India.
> Sulekha at http://www.sulekha.com
>  -----------
>    
> 
> 
> 



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