Max
05-08-2002, 11:09 AM
Illegal Pain Reliever Poses Serious Health Risk
Library: MED
Keywords: PAIN LATINO UTAH BONKOWSKY METAMIZOLE
Description: A Latino boy brought to a University of Utah Hospital community clinic with a severe infection led physicians to an alarming discovery: A pain reliever outlawed in the United States but used in developing countries is being sold here and presents a serious health risk to Latino immigrants.
Embargoed Until May 7
ILLEGAL PAIN RELIEVER POSES SERIOUS HEALTH RISK TO LATINO IMMIGRANTS, U OF U PHYSICIANS DISCOVER
A Latino boy brought to a University of Utah Hospital community clinic with a severe infection led physicians to an alarming discovery: A pain reliever outlawed in the United States but used in developing countries is being sold here and presents a serious health risk to Latino immigrants.
Up to 35 percent of Latino patients at the University South Main Public Health Center, the clinic where the sick 4-year-old boy was taken, use the drug, metamizole, the U of U School of Medicine physicians reported this week to the Pediatric Academic Societies in Baltimore. One-quarter of the immigrants surveyed by the four physicians said they bought metamizole in Utah or other states. The rest bought it in Mexico and brought it to this country.
"We conclude that metamizole use is common and may be under-recognized in immigrant Latino patients," the physicians wrote in a paper presented by U of U pediatrics resident Joshua L. Bonkowsky M.D., Ph.D.
Bonkowsy was the first U physician to encounter the 4-year-old in the Salt Lake City clinic.
Metamizole, which is made in Europe and marketed as a pain reliever, has potentially fatal side effects that include a severe white blood-cell deficiency that may lead to serious infection and death if untreated. In 1979, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration outlawed the sale of metamizole, but the drug still is legally sold in Mexico and other developing countries.
The Latino boy was brought to the U South Main clinic with a fever, stiff joints and low white blood cell count. He tested negative for leukemia. After speaking with the boy's parents, physicians learned he'd been given metamizole to relieve pain.
"Not only had he taken it, but they had purchased it here (in Salt Lake City)," said Carrie Byington, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics at the U of U School of Medicine and the study's lead author.
Byington, who received medical training in Texas near the Mexican border, recognized the symptoms of metamizole in the 4-year-old. After speaking further with the boy's parents, the physicians learned his mother had been hospitalized for a life-threatening infection associated with taking metamizole. Both the boy and his mother were treated with antibiotics and recovered.
A bottle of metamizole costs $11 in Utah, Byingyton said. Latinos are buying the drug through stores that serve the immigrant population in Utah and other states. These stores sell medications, herbs and home remedies from other countries that potentially could be dangerous products, Byington said.
The U physicians do not know if immigrant groups other than Latinos are at risk from metamizole, but the drug is marketed in Asia and Africa, as well as Latin America. They believe that as the U.S. population becomes more diverse, particularly with people of Latino and Hispanic heritage, the threat presented by metamizole may increase.
"Physicians in the United States -- must be aware of the availability and use of metamizole in specific patient populations and its potential for harmful side effects," the physicians wrote.
Along with Byington and Bonkowsky, authors of the paper include Karen F. Buchi, M.D., Ph.D, associate professor of pediatrics at the U medical school, and J. Kimble Frazer, M.D., Ph.D., resident in the University of Utah School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics.
# # #
For information contact,
Carrie Byington, M.D., 801-585-2372
Phil Sahm, public affairs, 801-581-7387; 801-585-5188 (fax)
Library: MED
Keywords: PAIN LATINO UTAH BONKOWSKY METAMIZOLE
Description: A Latino boy brought to a University of Utah Hospital community clinic with a severe infection led physicians to an alarming discovery: A pain reliever outlawed in the United States but used in developing countries is being sold here and presents a serious health risk to Latino immigrants.
Embargoed Until May 7
ILLEGAL PAIN RELIEVER POSES SERIOUS HEALTH RISK TO LATINO IMMIGRANTS, U OF U PHYSICIANS DISCOVER
A Latino boy brought to a University of Utah Hospital community clinic with a severe infection led physicians to an alarming discovery: A pain reliever outlawed in the United States but used in developing countries is being sold here and presents a serious health risk to Latino immigrants.
Up to 35 percent of Latino patients at the University South Main Public Health Center, the clinic where the sick 4-year-old boy was taken, use the drug, metamizole, the U of U School of Medicine physicians reported this week to the Pediatric Academic Societies in Baltimore. One-quarter of the immigrants surveyed by the four physicians said they bought metamizole in Utah or other states. The rest bought it in Mexico and brought it to this country.
"We conclude that metamizole use is common and may be under-recognized in immigrant Latino patients," the physicians wrote in a paper presented by U of U pediatrics resident Joshua L. Bonkowsky M.D., Ph.D.
Bonkowsy was the first U physician to encounter the 4-year-old in the Salt Lake City clinic.
Metamizole, which is made in Europe and marketed as a pain reliever, has potentially fatal side effects that include a severe white blood-cell deficiency that may lead to serious infection and death if untreated. In 1979, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration outlawed the sale of metamizole, but the drug still is legally sold in Mexico and other developing countries.
The Latino boy was brought to the U South Main clinic with a fever, stiff joints and low white blood cell count. He tested negative for leukemia. After speaking with the boy's parents, physicians learned he'd been given metamizole to relieve pain.
"Not only had he taken it, but they had purchased it here (in Salt Lake City)," said Carrie Byington, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics at the U of U School of Medicine and the study's lead author.
Byington, who received medical training in Texas near the Mexican border, recognized the symptoms of metamizole in the 4-year-old. After speaking further with the boy's parents, the physicians learned his mother had been hospitalized for a life-threatening infection associated with taking metamizole. Both the boy and his mother were treated with antibiotics and recovered.
A bottle of metamizole costs $11 in Utah, Byingyton said. Latinos are buying the drug through stores that serve the immigrant population in Utah and other states. These stores sell medications, herbs and home remedies from other countries that potentially could be dangerous products, Byington said.
The U physicians do not know if immigrant groups other than Latinos are at risk from metamizole, but the drug is marketed in Asia and Africa, as well as Latin America. They believe that as the U.S. population becomes more diverse, particularly with people of Latino and Hispanic heritage, the threat presented by metamizole may increase.
"Physicians in the United States -- must be aware of the availability and use of metamizole in specific patient populations and its potential for harmful side effects," the physicians wrote.
Along with Byington and Bonkowsky, authors of the paper include Karen F. Buchi, M.D., Ph.D, associate professor of pediatrics at the U medical school, and J. Kimble Frazer, M.D., Ph.D., resident in the University of Utah School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics.
# # #
For information contact,
Carrie Byington, M.D., 801-585-2372
Phil Sahm, public affairs, 801-581-7387; 801-585-5188 (fax)