Baltimore, MDCharlotte B. says she could tell that something was different about her ETHEX Corporation medications. She worries that she may have suffered an ETHEX drug overdose because of pills that had too much of their active ingredient. Charlotte says that her ETHEX side effects were terrible, and that she suffered for a long time. Like many other patients who took ETHEX drugs, she is now investigating a possible lawsuit against the maker of the medications that she thinks may have harmed her.
Charlotte says that she has been taking medication for her heart condition for approximately 10 years. She has a prescription for 240 mgs of isosorbide mononitrate. However, when she went in to fill her prescription—for which she usually has a 90-day supply—the pharmacy only gave her 30 pills and still owed her 60.
When she went back to get the rest of the pills, the pharmacist gave her pills of a lower dose—120 mg, which is one of the doses currently recalled because of an excess of the active ingredient. Charlotte became ill after taking the new dose.
"I don't want people to suffer the pain I'm suffering," Charlotte says. "They've prescribed me steroids because they said I had a mini-stroke, but the University of Maryland [hospital] said it wasn't a mini-stroke. They gave me steroids to stop my headaches.
"At one point, I noticed that the pills I was given were larger, fatter, than the ones I was used to. I noticed that in 2007 or so. I started to feel sick after taking the pills, but it didn't hit me right away. I think maybe because my dose was so high it wasn't having the effect it should have.
"In 2007, I was having angina attacks while taking the medication. I had stress in my arms, crushing in my chest and tight headaches. I also had shortness of breath. Those problems would come and go, but out of 7 days a week, I may have those problems 4 days.
"I've had some problems with my memory, where I'm not remembering things 100 percent. I have a follow up medical appointment in April to see if the steroids are helping. My head isn't hurting like it was. I still have a headache, but not as intense.
"I'm ashamed that they put these medicines on the market. I'm 48 years old and people say, 'You're too young to go through this.' Heart conditions run in my family. My older sister is going through something similar but not as hard as what I'm going through and I think it's because of the isosorbide. I think that's why I'm affected in this way.
"When I saw the pills, I said, 'Something is wrong with these pills,' but I didn't know how to find out more about that. There's no way the makers shouldn't have seen this problem. I lived off of that pill [isosorbide mononitrate]—it stopped me from suffering and having attacks for a while. But, I was probably suffering all this time because of those pills.
"I'm glad somebody is looking into this to get it straightened out. I'm suffering. I was scared to death. It was destroying me. Why didn't the pharmacies know what was going on? I guess it's all about money.
"If I can keep someone from stepping in my shoes, I will. I was really in some pain. I was so sick—I was hurting bad. I'm really, really scared of what was wrong with me."