Well Ciprofloxacin is Back on My Radar! Read the New Info!

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

A couple of amazing new facts showed up on my radar screen as strong blips I cannot let go without a show to the general public. Some of you thought that perhaps all the discussion on Cipro (ciprofloxacin, which by the way is just one of the many quinolones but is the most prescribed) was over but it has now two additional facts that were the best kept secrets until now.

One is that if you take anti-anxiety drugs from the class benzodiazepines such as Valium or Lunesta or Ambien (atypical benzo ligaments that attach to the benzo receptors and act like benzo even though they are not true benzos), interact with ciprofloxacin such that it can seriously hurt you. The list of fluoroquinolones that are known to do these serious damages:

  • ciprofloxacin (CIPRO, CILOXAN)
  • enoxacin (PENETREX)
  • levofloxacin (LEVAQUIN)
  • moxifloxacin (AVELOX)
  • norfloxacin (NOROXIN, CHIBROXIN)
  • ofloxacin(FLOXIN, OCUFLOX)

And the damage is copy-pasted from the above link just so you can read it without having to link to the site:

“In addition to being associated with other serious side effects such as the rupture of the Achilles tendon and retinal detachment, this class of antibiotics has impacts on the central nervous system and for this reason SHOULD NOT BE USED BY PEOPLE WHO ARE USING OR WHO HAVE WITHDRAWN FROM BENZODIAZEPINES. We do not have the information on their impacts on people using or withdrawn from other psychiatric drugs. There have been reports of people who have withdrawn from benzodiazepines for many months and have had a severe neuro-muscular or nervous system response (i.e. a return of withdrawal symptoms) after taking only a few of these antibiotic pills.

Dr. Heather Ashton has also issued a warning about this class of antibiotics. … ‘quinolone antibiotics which displace benzodiazepines from their binding sites and should not be taken by patients on, or recently on, benzodiazepines.’

The U.S. FDA requires Fluoroquinolones to have “black box” warning about the risk of tendinitis, tendon rupture and the drug’s ability to block neuromuscular activity (seen by prescribing doctors; seldom by patients). However, Health Canada’s warnings are only for those with Myasthenia Gravis, a relatively-rare condition” (emphasis is in the original).

This is amazing information because many people with migraines, depression, fibromyalgia, and veterans who return from war and have nightmares receive some type of benzodiazepines. I think this should have been number 1 on the doctors’ radar as well—including my doctor—who has been prescribing both benzodiazepines and Cipro for me for years. I have been on benzodiazepines since I was 19 after a traumatic event—very low dose but still it is there. So I have personal issue as well! I did have my Achilles tendon partially tear and I thought it was unrelated to anything in my life but odd since it happened for no reason.

The reason is clearly stated above as the first serious side effect of the drug even without taking benzodiazepines but with that the chances of getting hurt is significantly higher.

The second warning came as an even bigger surprise on my radar screen since it came from the FDA via the Air Force Times. The title of the article is telling without any further explanation: “New FDA warnings on Cipro may tie into Gulf War illness.“ I must say I am not even surprised by this news after the two links I received from readers to my original blog post. One to an article from Toxicologial Sciences; Oxford Journals titled “Inhibition of Human Topoisomerase Iiα by Fluoroquinolones and Ultraviolet A Irradiation” and the other from chemist Stephen J. Telfer’s who sent his article link in Medical Hypotheses Journal titled “Fluoroquinolone antibiotics and type 2 diabetes mellitus,” which goes a step further from “just” UV damaging the mitochondrial DNA. His hypothesis suggests that it also leads to diabetes II.

Boy do we have a handful of information against this drug and drug class of Quinolones in general!? So my natural question is this: why is this class of drugs still possible to prescribe for a common urinary tract infection or a sinus infection, when clearly the risks in these simple illness cases outweigh the benefits of the drug!?

This drug class, and particularly Cipro, which has been prescribed for just about everything without concern to its danger, should only be used when no other drug can do the treatment! Interestingly a large number of our bugs are already resistant to many of the drugs in this class and so it is no longer such a super drug that it must be prescribed since there are alternatives that do better when the situation is so dire.

Why UV light you may ask?

I wanted to grab two more important factors in the drug and the side effects listed on consumer type inserts in the package when one gets the drug so you understand the UV connection.

  • First of all, if the drug is a generic, there is no box. The pharmacy types up the information and most people just trash that without reading. Please read albeit it gives you very little useful information.
  • Secondly, one of the listed items on the printout (and on the bottle) is “avoid excessive sun since you burn easier while taking this medication” or something equivalent. From this point on, when you see this on a drug, DO NOT LEAVE HOME! This is a sign that UV light modifies something in the drug and thus in you! If it did not, there would be no warning on the drug about the sun and you would not burn easier than when not taking the drug. We are not told that this little happy warning actually causes major damage.

The damage apparently that UV light causes—in case you don’t have the time to read the links above—is that the UV light activates an enzyme that attacks the DNA in the mitochondria in your cells. Mitochondria are the little energy manufacturing machines in every one of our cells, without which we have no living cells. It may be difficult to comprehend all this in one reading but I must add what mitochondria really are and why we potentially are facing this problem.

Mitochondria are bacteria that have become symbiotic with our cells. They have given up their “bacteria” nature and all they do is function as a “half bacteria” if you will. They digest all the food we take in and convert that to little energy packets our cells live on. When our cells take a breath, it is actually the mitochondria that take the breath. Thus when we take an antibacterial agent that attacks bacterial DNA and mitochondria are bacteria in their DNA, it is obviously very tricky to kill all bacteria except the mitochondria. Not all antibiotics are after the DNA approach but the quinolones class is. This is one of the reasons why we are having so much trouble with them.

In addition to modifying the DNA of the mitochondria, the drug also pulls massive amounts of magnesium and ATP, the fuel that allows the cells to actually open and close their sodium-potassium pumps among other things. No magnesium, no ATP, and nothing comes or goes in or out of the cells except by little channels where osmosis is the method. Since the outside of our cells is full of nutrient rich liquid and the inside of the cells is full with old used up stuff that needs exchange, some of the liquid may go into the cell and come out of the cell but not sodium (part of salt) because it is too big in size. Thus your cells get dehydrated as well. Plus no ATP and so no energy.

It is a very complex problem that I recommend we all avoid! Take charge of your own health and do not allow your doctor to prescribe to you the 6 drugs listed above!

I have a suspicion that what we today call fibromyalgia is actually toxicity from Quinolones drugs.

Comments are welcome as always!

Angela

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Dear Ebola!

Posted on October 15, 2014 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

Please help us understand a few things about you.

There is so much we don’t know and are confused about. Depending on what time of the day we read, even on the most prominent medical websites like the CDC or the WHO, your contagious date starts anywhere on the following days from contamination: 1 day, 2 days, 5 days, 6 days, 7 days, all the way to 21 days and you remain contagious for as long as 60 days after the person is cured or 61 days. One article says a man cured of Ebola can infect anyone with his sperm for 7 weeks after he is cured but in a scientific paper it is 90 days though in 98% of the cases the semen was only contagious for 42 days according to the same publication.

I have also found a very interesting sentence dear Ebola that totally confused me. The CDC says:

“Once someone recovers from Ebola, they can no longer spread the virus. However, Ebola virus has been found in semen for up to 3 months. People who recover from Ebola are advised to abstain from sex or use condoms for 3 months.”

So men should refrain from sex because they cannot spread the virus that is still in their semen active and ready to infect? Can you please clarify this sentence or the quote above that the sentence summarized?

I also have another question since there is so much confusion and even the CDC admits that “Because the natural reservoir host of Ebola viruses has not yet been identified, the manner in which the virus first appears in a human at the start of an outbreak is unknown” yet other research and the history of our familiarity with Ebola virus is that it comes from the Fruit Bats.

The interesting thing is that fruit bats do not get sick, have no symptoms, yet infect others.

I find that interesting since the CDC said and the New York Times published the statement that a person cannot infect anyone until he/she has the symptoms. This is in stark contrast to the previously noted statistics that suggests that men who have recovered and are no longer symptomatic, carry active Ebola in their semen for 60 to 90 days.

So if the men have no symptoms (similarly to the bats) but are carriers (similarly to bats), how can they infect when they cannot infect without symptoms? I am confused. Sorry if I am confusing you too dear Ebola.

And finally, originally the CDC suggested that we need to watch out for fever and cough, which later they updated with watching for cough only in terms of the spraying of fluids but then Ebola patients do not seem to cough. However there appears to be a strain of Ebola virus (there are 5 strains: – Bundibugyo ebolavirus (BDBV), Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV), Reston ebolavirus (RESTV), Sudan ebolavirus (SUDV), Taï Forest ebolavirus (TAFV).) that only infect animals and monkeys where they do sneeze and cough.

So dear Ebola, please tell us about you because we are obviously not capable to discover much about you without your help.

I just watched CNN while having dinner and they were talking about you. The question asked was: should Americans fear you Ebola!? The answer may surprise you. They said: fear the CDC instead! The CDC seems to say one thing one minute and another the second minute and do different from what they instruct. So dear Ebola, please pay a visit to the test tubes of the research centers of the CDC and introduce your true self so they can tell us if tapes around the breathing mask in the Dallas Hospital is enough to keep you from entering.

Please also tell the CDC that next time a nurse who was sent home for solitary self monitoring (she was member of the staff that handled the first Ebola victim) calls asking that she has a little high temperature, can she fly? Please tell them to say “NO.”

Thank you Ebola for all your help!

Sincerely,

Angela

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Academic Research, Rivalry, Hidden Lies, & Now You Know Why Your Drugs Kill You!

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

This is a hell of a title. I have been thinking about a good crazy title for several hours because I wanted to shock you with it and to make sure you read this article. So please take a seat and put on your seat belt while reading this.

It is quite well-known that academia has its quirks that force many ethical academicians out of the field because the stuff that goes on. You probably know by now that I also left academia and returned to art as my solace just as Dr. Walter Nelson-Rees has, except that he became an art dealer and I am an art creator; same thing only different ends of the rope. Dr. Nelson-Rees was at the University of California at Berkeley working on cancer research from 1975 through 1981 according to the Discover Magazine article “Trial and Error” by Jill Neimark. The magazine is by subscription only but I highlight some of its key points and bring a parallel with the bad drug syndrome we seem to be facing these days. I will also explain the connection of this finding to my leaving academia. I think you will understand all this now in one swell swoop. So let’s begin.

Cancer Research at its Best (or Worst):

For scientists around the world who want to work in drug research, they often need to work on live cultured cells, cells that have an infinite life (long science story, I will not explain infinite life here). Infinite live cells are valuable assets that are hard to create and thus hard and pricey to purchase. Only a few labs carry cancerous cells specific to a certain cancer that have infinite lives. Thus if a researcher wants to work on say thyroid cancer, he/she must obtain cells with only thyroid cancer to work on. However, some cancers are more virulent than others and with improper care, contamination may result. All is well since one can identify that the cells are contaminated and order new ones. Right?…Maybe not…

Dr. Kenneth Ain is one of the lead thyroid cancer cell repository founders and after discovering the contamination of his cells with another cancer, he sent letters to all institutes and all cancer research laboratories in the country and to 69 investigators directly. Of all of these only 2 responded back to him–the paper does not detail if the response was “yay, thank you” or “so who cares” but note all the rest have ignored it and continued their research on thyroid cancer knowing that the cells they were working on had other cancer infections. HeLa cancer cells – a very fast growing line of cervical cancer cells – are the most likely culprits. They have taken over – by cross-contamination of equipment – many other types of cancer cells in research labs, no matter what the original cancer cell line may have been. Thus if scientists continue their research for thyroid cancer cure on cervical cancer cells I don’t think their results will be reliable and promising… what do you think?

Is this a new story? No. The knowledge that cross-contamination occurs is actually quite old. 1967 (yes, nearly a half a century ago) it was discovered that there was something wrong with the cancer cells in research, since experiments showed inconsistent and unexpected results. HeLa apparently contaminated over 20% of the cancer cell lines used for research and so most cancer research, be it breast, thyroid, melanoma, you name it, used cells that were infected with the HeLa cervical cancer.

Hundreds of publications later and after the many drug trials using the wrong cells, 11 patents and several NIH funded research grants, the whistle was blown again by Dr. Nelson-Rees. This move unfortunately ended his career. He published an article in Science, reintroducing the same truth that years earlier was already announced, that all these papers, drug tests, and drugs that were the results of tests on the contaminated cancer cells were bogus because they used cultured cell lines with cancers unrelated to the disease they were finding cure for. His colleagues were, of course, angry with Nelson-Reese even though they already were told by Dr. Ain long time earlier that the cells were contaminated. To top it off, the then editor-in-chief of Nature (John Maddox) wrote a very critical article on Dr. Nelson-Rees’ effort closing the door behind Nelson-Rees’ option to remain in academia. The NIH terminated Nelson-Rees’ contract, and with his colleagues keeping a distance as if he had Ebola, he left academia and joined the arts.

In 2009, a conscientious cell biologist sent letters to 45,000 scientists telling them to test their research cell lines for contamination. Most of the cells were of course contaminated and so the NIH set up a new standard to fund research that works only on uncontaminated cell lines. But do you suppose they actually followed that standard? The NIH continued to fund research regardless, so the work on the wrong cells continued, with everyone knowing that the work was a total farce… business as usual in medical research!

Today, after nearly 50 years of knowing that many of the cells used are contaminated, research in cancer still continues on those cells! Luckily some of the drugs failed clinical trials and were not made available for the public–those are the ones we know of. How many do we not know of?

I can give you another angle of how many we do not know of based on what happened to me (and I am sure to many others). When I was working on my doctorate, I was nominated by my professor and invited to the University of Paris that held a 2-week special training session for promising doctoral candidates. Each candidate was paired one-on-one with a famous professor–the one I was paired with received his Nobel Prize a few years later. My work in that two-week period indicated that the theory this professor awaited the Nobel Prize for was wrong. Not surprisingly he did not agree with me on the spot. So back at home it took me a year to work out the proof – both using laboratory findings and mathematics – that his theory cannot be right. When I presented my findings to him I received the following short email: “You are right but keep it quiet.”

I think you now have a better idea on how many peer-reviewed journal articles are wrong yet get published anyway; how many laboratory research outcomes are wrong but the drugs are approved anyway, and how many drugs out there were meant to treat a pimple but are prescribed to cure bacterial infections or cancer.

To give you one little example of how bogus peer-reviewed journal articles are:

“In October 2013, Science correspondent John Bohannon published an article reporting a sting operation. He concocted a fraudulent scientific paper studded with anomalies and ethical approval problems, and sent it to more than 300 open-access peer-reviewed journals; more than half accepted the fake manuscript… Of 53 papers deemed ‘landmark’ studies over the last decade, only six held up and were reproducible… There is a rising tide of worry over the spike in fraudulent scientific papers.” (Quote from the article in Discover as linked to above, page 50)

As of the writing of the article in Discover for the November 2014 issue, 22 journals (a drop in the bucket) “require cell line authentication.” Nature, since 2013, requires that every author report the source of the cells they used for research and how the uncontaminated verification was reached.

So, starting all research published since 2013 in 22 journals plus Nature, we can have a certain level of trust that at least they used the right samples for the research. There are over 25 thousand scientific publications, from which several hundred focuses on cell research in some shape or form, from which 23 make sure the right samples are used for their experiments!

Whether the actual research is correctly reported, still remains in question based on the fake experiment submission and acceptance of John Bohannon’s article. And there is more. Every single journal submission is reviewed by 3 scientists, at least 2 of whom must agree on whether to publish or trash.  In my personal experience as a reviewer, I found that I rejected over 80% of the submissions, mostly because I was the only scientist who actually understood the inaccuracies in the mathematics and statistics required for the complex research. The other 2 reviewers approved and the articles got published anyway!

So much for science, and so much for your health! The fact that very capable and ethical researchers elect to work as artists or art dealers should tell you that the system is far from perfect.

Your comments are welcome as always!

Angela

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Those Pesky Inactive Ingredients in Generic Drugs! Cipro vs. Ciprofloxacin.

Posted on October 13, 2014 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

I thought I wrote enough about generic versus brand name already but then the antibiotic dug class quinolone hit my radar screen and here we go again. In talking to friends and sufferers on Facebook and elsewhere who have access to attorneys specializing in cases like this, the subject of inactive ingredients came into question as a result of two cases that went in front of court where people tried to sue a generic manufacturer but were unsuccessful. Both cases ended up at the US Supreme Court, which is odd since their job is to decide on Constitutional matters and generic drugs would not seem to be appropriate for that.

The first case referred to was handled by the US Supreme Court in 2010: Pliva, Inc., et al v. Mensing and the second case in 2012: Mutual Pharmaceuticals Co., Inc. v. Bartlett. In both cases, however, the supreme court decided on the side of the pharmaceuticals, noting that “Once a drug is approved, a manufacturer [including generic drug manufacturer] is prohibited from making any major changes to the “qualitative or quantitative formulation of the drug product, including active ingredients, or in the specifications provided in the approved application…. [including] labeling,” which also consists of all adverse side effects listed on the brand name drug’s list of adverse side effects. (emphasis added)

Thus what the Supreme Court suggested is that the generic manufacturer’s active ingredient in the generic drug must be the same as the active ingredient in the brand name and since the active ingredients in the brand name and the generic drug are the same, and the FDA approved it “as is” already, there can be no changes made. The FDA approved the brand name drug based on the safety of the active ingredients in the brand name drug. Since the brand name drug and the generic drug active ingredients are the same, this relieves the generic manufacturer from any responsibility. Whether it caused adverse side effects not listed on the box label is irrelevant since there can be no changes made once the drug was FDA approved.

Note that there is no mention anywhere in the US Supreme Court case about the inactive ingredients!

Hold it right there! If I am a generic manufacturer and my inactive ingredients modify the absorption of the active ingredient and thereby convert the good drug under the brand name into a toxic generic drug then… well what then?!

As it happens, this is the case more often than not. In the case of Cipro in particular, the active ingredient is Ciprofloxacin. One of the most important inactive ingredients is a film coating (meaning it probably absorbs in a place other than the stomach) but the generic equivalents need not contain that film coating because it is considered to be an inactive ingredient.

So if the pill absorbs elsewhere in the body in the generic than in the brand name, does it not modify the generic drug to be a different drug from the brand name? Should the generic that works so differently not require a new drug application (NDA) and an FDA approval the same way as any new drug would have to? One of the reasons why brand name drugs are so expensive is precisely because of all the work it takes to pass the NDA process and all the clinical trials that come with that.

Thus this is the main problem: inactive ingredients matter in how the drug is absorbed but they are not considered to be necessary and are not active ingredients.

Here is the example for you with Cipro brand name and one of the generic manufacturer’s Ciprofloxacin, generic for Cipro:

Cipro brand name:
Active ingredient: ciprofloxacin

Inactive ingredients:

cornstarch, microcrystalline cellulose, silicon dioxide, crospovidone, magnesium stearate, hypromellose, titanium dioxide, and polyethylene glycol

Cimprofloxacin generic:
Active Ingredient: Ciprofloxacin

Inactive Ingredients:
Hypromellose 2208 (15000 MPA.S), lactose monohydrate, magnesium stearate, modified corn starch (1-Octenyl succinic anhydride), sodium starch glycolate type a potato, titanium dioxide, triacetin, (cornstarch, microcrystalline cellulose, silicon dioxide, crospovidone, hypromellose, titanium dioxide, and polyethylene glycol)

Inactive ingredients that are in the generic drug but not in the brand name drug:

  • Hypromellose 2208 (15000 MPA.S), 
  • lactose monohydrate, 
  • modified corn starch (1-Octenyl succinic anhydride),
  • sodium starch glycolate type a potato,

Inactive ingredients that are in the brand name drug that are not in the generic drug:

  • cornstarch, microcrystalline cellulose,
  • silicon dioxide,
  • crospovidone,
  • hypromellose,
  • polyethylene glycol

Inactive ingredients in both the brand name and the generic drug:

  • magnesium stearate
  • triacetin, 
  • titanium dioxide

The differences between the inactive ingredients of the brand name and the generic drugs may explain why of the 1800 complains against this drug, in the quarter ending June 2014 in the FDA database, 1600 complaints were about generic and only 200 about the brand name drug!

The two lawsuits against the generic manufacturers were set up on the wrong legal base. Given that adverse side effects grow every day and are added to the FDA database but not to the drug’s warning–remember, once the drug is FDA approved, modifications are not possible, the list cannot be amended except in special circumstances. I now understand that fighting on the grounds of the adverse side effects not being listed cannot be done without a constitutional argument; hence these cases ended up at the US Supreme Court! A case fought on losing grounds cannot win. The attorneys should have known better!

Why did the attorneys not fight on the basis of the inactive ingredients instead? Apparently I am told some attorneys believe that the inactive ingredients must also be the same as the active ingredients (lawyers should not be believing anything until they researched the facts)! But if one reads the cases carefully, it is clear that only active ingredients matter in the eye of the law. There is room for a discussion (and a fight) on the inactive ingredients since they modify the active ingredient’s absorption, thereby creating a new drug that was not FDA approved

Do we have a case to fight generic drug makers whose inactive ingredients modify the drug to be different form the brand name? You bet! A generic drug that behaves in the body differently from its equivalent brand name drug is a different drug and needs FDA approval! It is an illegal drug that is sold without being approved by the FDA. It is that simple!

Are you an attorney? Please contact me!

Comments are welcomed!

Angela

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Clueless Doctors and Prop 46! Know the Truth California!

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

I am not a political person–I do not have a political bone in my body. I normally avoid any kind of politics in a circle of at least 3 feet in radius. However, this time I do want to get involved and ask you to vote YES on Prop 46 for the following reasons.

I see so many advertisements on TV that are paid by the doctors and their lobby against Prop 46 that by now I am not even watching the news. I stopped watching it because all I want to do is beat the TV up and that does no good. I also miss the ads supporting Prop 46! I know why we do not have them! The people who created Prop 46 are the suffering victims who cannot afford to pay for the ads! The sick have no millions of dollars to throw into TV ads.

You can pretty much measure how to vote on something that is good for you and the public at large by who is voting against it: if there are a lot of ads against it, chances are the Proposition is good for YOU!

The TV ads tell you the following lies:

1)  Your insurance costs will go up – this is probably the biggest lie I have ever heard. Why would our insurance go up? We are not the ones who have to pay for the doctors’ mistakes! They do! The doctors’ malpractice insurance will go up and not our medical insurance! The patients’ insurance never increases as a result of the malpractice costs of the doctors! The huge lie is a major sign that they are in trouble and trouble they will be for sure!

For now I just want to reassure you: Your insurance costs will not go up!

Note also that we currently have a cap on medical malpractice lawsuits of $250,000 which is too small for attorneys to take on any of the cases. Why? Because it is out of the attorney’s pocket to get all the evidence of malpractice, the expert witnesses, the medical records, so forth. By the time they file for the lawsuit in court, they spent more than the $250,000 permitted max to be returned to both patient and attorney combined today. So today there is no doctor accountability and they know it! I met those lack of accountability processes way too many times in person!

This financial cap was set in 1975! Wouldn’t you also like to have the gas and food prices of 1975? Oh yes! I also want to buy my house and car at 1975 prices! What this part of Prop 46 is asking is simply to adjust the cap of malpractice with the inflation rates we had since 1975 so we can go ahead and file a lawsuit if the doctor committed a malpractice.

Let me be clear: if there is no malpractice, there is no need to fear the increased malpractice insurance. And this is also the crocks of the matter because higher malpractice payments will bring about safer medical practices! Doctors will be more careful! They will actually have to act in a professional manner and be accountable for their actions! Imagine that!

2) The ads tell you that your prescription data will be online such that all doctors will have access to it and that is a bad thing because it compromises your medical information’s safety. Wow! The person who came up with this lie should be congratulated! This probably beats every lie I have ever seen or heard and it does so without a blink.

First of all, our prescription information is already online! In fact, in California, it is so online that the same person cannot purchase 2 boxes of Sudafed anywhere in the state within 2 weeks! Hello!!! We even need to give our driver’s licenses for buying a box of Sudafed–and may I remind you that Sudafed is an over the counter medication! So what the heck are they talking about?

Do I want doctors to have access to my medical allergies and prescription drugs I am already taking in case I get into an accident? YES!! Do doctors know today what medications I take or am allergic to? NO!! Which is safer in your opinion? I go for the one where they know my medical records and my drug history. As for safety of the medical records… huh? The ones I can pay $29 for on many online record storage and get in a second about anyone? Really? The doctors may not know my medical history now but my neighbors may! So that part is not only a lie but stupid and clueless as well!

3) Drug testing of doctors is silent on these advertisements… I cannot help but wonder why? Hummmm?? Maybe there is something in that particular part that is so measurably necessary that they do not dare putting it up on TV? See doctors are people just like you and I. They are not saints; they drink, some use drugs, some work without license (I had the pleasure of meeting one of these just recently treating with a black box psychotropic medication someone very dear to me), etc. But there is another side.

I recall when I was employed in Silicon Valley by companies like Intel and similar, we all had to go through drug testing. In fact I had to go into a special location, in a special room (not a bathroom!) with open doors and give my sample to be sure they witnessed that I did not swap my urine with someone else’s that I may have brought with me. So those who are against this proposition are saying that I as a potential patient MUST go through drug testing to work for a company but those who handle my health do not? A very interesting argument but it does not hold water. Sorry. Go get tested!

If I were to write Prop 46, I would also have added mandatory annual re-testing of medical knowledge because once a doctor threw his/her cap in the air after graduation, new science and discoveries can no longer penetrate their heads for some reason. It has to be forced into those heads by testing every year! Unfortunately this is not part of any proposition this year! I hope it will be on one next time!

In conclusion: if you want good for the people and for yourself and you are not a medical doctor, vote YES of Prop 46 California! If you are a medical doctor, you are excused to vote or not vote. 🙂 We will not hold a grudge against you not wanting to stand up for quality!

VOTE YES ON PROP 46 CALIFORNIA!

Feel free to ask questions!

Angela

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Ruth’s Story – Cipro Toxicity

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

Ruth’s Story – Cipro Toxicity.

When my doctor prescribed Cipro for a stubborn sinus infection in February of 2014, I thought I had never heard of it, and asked her if that was an antibiotic. The truth was, I had heard of it. I had taken it before and hated the experience so much that I had refused to take it again as a doctor laughed at me, treating me like a stubborn child refusing to take her medicine. Perhaps I had blocked out the experience. Perhaps I doubted my sanity at the time. I remember feeling that I was being tormented by a demon, sleepless night after sleepless night as I lay awake reading the name of the pills on the bottle: Ciprofloxacin. Gradually, the idea dawned on me that the demon was actually in the bottle of pills. I got up and threw them away as a hooded figure standing in the center of my parent’s kitchen watched me.

Until early February of 2014, while on Cipro, I kept noticing this odd, thin yellowish liquid coming out of my nose. It wasn’t infection, but it wasn’t a normal secretion either. Yet, it seemed familiar. This odd drainage had accompanied my experience with Cipro back in the 1980’s.  After the nightmare started again I remembered, but it was too late. From February 6th through the 9th I took seven 500 mg pills in all.  I had read the long list of side effects, but I was not told that these side effects (other than peripheral neuropathy) could become permanent. I was not told that these side effects were evidence of actual damage being done to my body and central nervous system. I was warned about tendonitis, but not told that Cipro actually causes tendonsosis (an abnormal formation of a tendon) and that the damage done by Cipro to connective tissue and cartilage can be irreparable.

I called my doctor with concerns about taking Cipro. She said…..

read the rest on her page

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What to Do If You Are a Victim of Quinolone (Cipro and others) Drugs!

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

I am very grateful for the Quinolone Vigilance Foundation that contacted me yesterday whose director wrote a lovely note in the comments field on the first blog I wrote on Cipro and the drugs falling into the same class, called Quinolones.

Because this drug class is so often prescribed, it is likely that you had in the past taken drugs belonging to this category. If you did AND if you had adverse side effect(s) from the drug–immediately or later–see the 43-page warning label of what kind of adverse effects you may have experienced–you have options. There is information for you at the website of the Quinolone Vigilance Foundation where you can even find contact information to attorneys who specialize in cases relevant to this drug class.

As a victim you have rights. Proving the connection to the drug class itself–if your adverse effects were not immediate–may be harder than if you had an immediate reaction. Please contact the attorney(s) listed and find out your options! Please do take your options seriously! One of the best ways to get a drug or drug class off the market is by having lots of complaints about the drugs.

I also strongly advise everyone who had an adverse reaction to any of the drugs in the Fluoroquinolones family to file a complaint about the drug at the FDA – you need to download the form I linked here, fill it out and fax it or mail it to the fax/address listed on the form. The link under the word “complaints” takes you straight to where you should complain about non-life threatening adverse reactions from drugs or foods if you got sick from something! Save this link! It is important that you complain!

Angela

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Scientific Evidence on Cipro and Similar! In Case You Had Doubts!

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

One of the commentators to my previous blog post “Those Amazing Antibiotics & How One Class Hurts You” has responded with a very important comment that I think you all should see as a main article. The comment from Debbie T Carol hit a nerve that reinforced the suspicion and substantiated the allegations of all drugs in the class of Cipro (fluoroquinolones) being bad drugs. I decided to copy paste her comment here for you all to read since she has commented with a letter by a doctor who after years of evaluation found a direct connection between fluoroquinolones and very serious adverse reactions and sent it to the Senate for review. This happened earlier this year and things do not happen fast in government, as we know. But they will accelerate if you all refuse to take these drugs and ask for drugs that are not in the class of fluoroquinolones.

After the comment I also give you the names of all the drugs in the fluoroquinolones class so you can print it out and refuse it if prescribed with links to the full drug profile. Here is the comment: Continue reading →

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Those Amazing Antibiotics & How One Class Hurts You

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

We all know that antibiotics are not good for us for one reason or the other. We are allergic to some, the bugs love others and get fat on them, and then there is a class that actually works quite well, a broad spectrum class that can kill both gram+ and gram- bacteria (these are stains that make them visible under microscope) but… and here is the problem. Many of us get this particular class of antibiotics because they work so well but it was just brought to my attention that this drug class has two black box warning on it!

What is a black box? It is a special warning “… reserved for prescription drugs that pose a significant risk of serious or life-threatening adverse effects, based on medical studies…” as per the American Society of Consultant Pharmacies. Usually black box warnings are associated with psychotropic medications of the worst kinds (by worst I mean possibly causing the most danger) but who would expect one on a class of drugs we get for simple bacterial infections? In fact there are 36 drugs listed in this class on Wikipedia. This class is called Fluoroquinolones.

The list of damages this class causes is huge. Many of the most recently added side effects look, sound and feel like this drug may be one of the largest contributing factors of the recent epidemic of fibromyalgia. I do not know a single person who has not taken this drug. Its effects can be immediate but also build up. Once you reach a threshold, you will get ill. I, for example, have taken it for years without any problems and then suddenly I developed a tendon problem. That was 2 years ago. It took me this connection to realize that it was because of Cipro! There was no other reason for it: I casually walked our evening walk as usual, comfortably, no running, no jumping and bang. All of a sudden I had to limp home on tip toe. It took over a year to recover and I was lucky! It was my tendon and not my nervous system–so far at least!

I am providing you with links to literature that will take you further in reading and after the links I copy-paste here the side effects from Wikipedia so you know what to expect:

http://baronandbudd.com/protecting-whats-right/2014/09/side-effects-of-cipro-levaquin-and-avelox/

http://floxiehope.com/2014/09/08/side-effects-cipro-levaquin-avelox/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levofloxacin

http://www.aafp.org/afp/2000/0501/p2741.html

http://www.fda.gov/drugs/drugsafety/postmarketdrugsafetyinformationforpatientsandproviders/ucm126085.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Fluoroquinolone_antibiotics

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/10/20/fluoroquinolones-side-effects.aspx

Side effects from Wikipedia:

“Adverse effects

In general, fluoroquinolones are well tolerated, with most side-effects being mild to moderate. On occasion, serious adverse effects occur. Common side-effects include gastrointestinal effects such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, as well as headache and insomnia.

The overall rate of adverse events in patients treated with fluoroquinolones is roughly similar to that seen in patients treated with other antibiotic classes. A U.S. Centers for Disease Control study found patients treated with fluoroquinolones experienced adverse events severe enough to lead to an emergency department visit more frequently than those treated with cephalosporins or macrolides, but less frequently than those treated with penicillins, clindamycin, sulfonamides, or vancomycin.

Post-marketing surveillance has revealed a variety of relatively rare but serious adverse effects that are associated with all members of the fluoroquinolone antibacterial class. Among these, tendon problems and exacerbation of the symptoms of the neurological disorder myasthenia gravis are the subject of “black box” warnings in the United States. Quinolones are associated with an increase risk of tendonitis and tendon rupture in all age groups. This side effect is most common but not limited to the Achilles tendon. Fluoroquinolone-associated tendinopathy symptoms have occurred as early as 2 hours after the initial fluoroquinolone exposure and as late as 6 months after the medication was discontinued. The most severe form of tendonopathy associated with fluoroquinolone administration is tendon rupture, which in the great majority of cases involves the Achilles tendon. Younger people typically experience good recovery, but permanent disability is possible, and is more likely in older patients. The overall frequency of fluoroquinolone-associated Achilles tendon rupture in patients treated with ciprofloxacin or levofloxacin is has been estimated at 17 per 100,000 treatments (three times the rate in people without fluoroquinolone exposure). Risk is substantially elevated in the elderly and in those with recent exposure to topical or systemic corticosteroid therapy. Simultaneous use of corticosteroids is present in almost one-third of quinolone-associated tendon rupture. Other risk factors include patients with kidney, heart and lung transplants, strenuous physical activity during or immediately after treatment, renal failure or previous tendon disorders like rheumatoid arthritis. Some experts have advised avoidance of fluoroquinolones in athletes.

Fluoroquinolones (FQs) prolong the heart’s QT interval by blocking voltage-gated potassium channels. Prolongation of the QT interval can lead to torsades de pointes, a life-threatening arrhythmia, but in practice this appears relatively uncommon in part because the most widely prescribed fluoroquinolones (ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin) only minimally prolong the QT interval.

Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea may occur in connection with the use of any antibacterial drug, especially those with a broad spectrum of activity such as clindamycin, cephalosporins, and fluoroquinolones. Fluoroquinoline treatment is associated with risk that is similar to or less than that associated with broad spectrum cephalosporins. Fluoroquinoline administration may be associated with the acquisition and outgrowth of a particularly virulent Clostridium strain.

The U.S. prescribing information contains a warning regarding uncommon cases of peripheral neuropathy, which can be permanent. Other nervous system effects include insomnia, restlessness, and rarely, seizure, convulsions, and psychosis. Other rare and serious adverse events have been observed with varying degrees of evidence for causation.

Events that may occur in acute overdose are rare, and include renal failure and seizure. Susceptible groups of patients, such as children and the elderly, are at greater risk of adverse reactions during therapeutic use.

Contraindications

Quinolones are contraindicated if a patient has epilepsy, QT prolongation, pre-existing CNS lesions, or CNS inflammation, or the patient has suffered a stroke. They are best avoided in the athlete population. There are safety concerns of fluoroquinolone use during pregnancy and, as a result, are contraindicated except for when no other safe alternative antibiotic exists. However, one meta-analysis looking at the outcome of pregnancies involving Quinolone use in the first trimester found no increased risk of malformations. They are also contraindicated in children due to the risks of damage to the musculoskeletal system. Their use in children is not absolutely contraindicated, however. For certain severe infections where other antibiotics are not an option, their use can be justified. Quinolones should also not be given to people with a known hypersensitivity to the drug.”

As you can see, this is not a drug to be taken lightly. In fact it has a 43-page long warning that is supposed to be included in the box when you get this medicine but as many times as I have taken it, I never ever received the black box warning. You can find the 43-page warning here.

So next time you have a bacterial infection, I recommend you print this page out and many of the pages at the links and if you wish the 43-page warning and show your doctor. Demand an alternate medication. Furthermore, since the drug actively interferes with the voltage gated potassium channels, migraine sufferers will likely end up with migraine and in general everyone taking it will be dehydrated.

Your comments and questions are welcomed!

Angela

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High Dose Flu Shot or NOTHING! Ultimatum By the FDA!

Posted on October 4, 2014 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

Well, I never ever thought it would come to this: our government is experimenting without consent on all people 65 or older with a new flu vaccine called “high dose” such that seniors have no choice! Is this real?! So now we are in a dictatorship in which we the people have no choice of what version of medication we take?

Let me explain what this high dose flu shot means. I don’t want to talk about what is inside since you can read that elsewhere. Rather I want to talk about two important elements.

1) Human drug trial without consent is unethical and illegal

2) The population most vulnerable to get hurt is used because they are also the most trusting and least likely to question what is about to hit them.

So let’s talk about point 1) Human drug trial without consent is unethical and illegal. In the United States we have very strict rules of ethical conduct when it comes to drug experimenting. I know since I experimented on humans and I had to go through a year of ethical committee approvals for each experiment. It is expensive, time-consuming and we always needed to have extra medical staff with us to check each person’s medical qualifications (vital signs, drug interactions, etc.,) as well as all through the experiment to be sure no one got ill, and then even follow-up guarantee for any ailments at our expense.

Flu vaccine is also a drug and it had its own clinical trial in 2013 which showed that indeed many seniors benefited from the enhanced (4 times) dose of vaccine but it also showed that they all got fever, felt ill, etc. And these were controlled groups so the clinical researchers knew the medical history of their patients and obviously as a clinical drug trial, they pick only healthy patients. Now here comes the season and the FDA says: let the high dose flu shot be provided such that all unlisted adverse side effects found in the population will be collected. And thus every single place one now goes to get a flu vaccine, they ask the age and bingo, without any explanation the senior gets the high dose!

A friend of mine went in to try to see if she could still get the regular dose even though she is over 65 and they told her NO. So what is going in here? This is an ultimatum by the government: you get the high dose like it or not; or if not, you can get none! Lovely, isn’t it! Forced experiment… this reminds me of a few historical events that I am sure you are all aware of and I do not want to list.

Let’s talk about point 2) The population most vulnerable to get hurt is used because they are also the most trusting and least likely to question what is about to hit them. What will happen to all the seniors who have no idea what they are getting, they end up with fever and feel ill and stuff hospital ER waiting rooms? Whose expense will that be? (They are all on Medicare after age 65! So you pay for that!!!! You who still work!)

What happens with those seniors whose health condition cannot handle a 4-times dose of vaccine? What if they get injured or die? A class action lawsuit that the FDA will have to pay–in other words you and I pay since the FDA is a government organization whose salary is from us the people!

I have always believed in flu shots and get them religiously every year. I am not yet 65 and so I still received the “old weak one.” I am waiting to see though if anyone gets hurt. Because if they do; my advise: class action lawsuit against the FDA! Let’s change some laws here! Let’s change the uninformed consent kind of experimenting, which also incorporates off-label prescription. Let us change the law!

Comments are welcome!

Angela

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