Have you ever had spinal Epidural Steroid Injections and suspect you may have been seriously harmed by the "off label" use of Pfizer's Depo-Medrol? Care to learn what the doctor may have failed to tell you or your loved one?
On the left, click onto "Depo-Medrol Did It Harm You?" and read what we feel is a medical tragedy. Read our stories in "Messages", click onto the other topics to learn more, then tell us what happened to you. Express what you wish, your feelings and ideas, theories or fears, no one will be banned from this site*.
Worldwide, there are thousands of people with identical Depo-Medrol reactions. What's worse is that their complaints would generally fall on deaf ears as they desperately tried to describe their severe reaction to the treatment. Most often, they were written-off by a medical community equally divided but suspiciously silent over the issue, even when confronted with the facts.
The manufacturers of the steroid, Pfizer/Pharmacia & Upjohn, (PP&U) have been very successful dodging their moral and ethical responsibility especially in light of the overwhelming evidence that their steroid has indeed seriously harmed a portion of the global population when injected epidurally.
Is the manufacturer being truthful when they say they're doing everything in their power to educate the medical profession about the proper use of their drug? In a letter addressed to a complaining victim, Mr. Keith Krzywicki, (Mr. K), the then President of Pharmacia/UK, noted that the drug's package insert has "provided doctors with all the information they require to exercise their clinical judgment as to how to use the product (Depo-Medrol) in the best interests of their patient"!** But what he fails to mention is that in an internal PP&U document, his company strongly states that "both formulations" of Depo-Medrol are "not FDA approved" and are "not recommended for epidural administration" because of the many "severe medical events" that have been reported to them and to the FDA!***
Every Hospital, Surgical Center, doctor and pharmacist we interviewed in the last two years has denied ever seeing this PP&U Warning document recommending against the epidural administration of Depo-Medrol. Stunned and tongue tied, they all said they would have never used Depo-Medrol for spinal injections if this Warning was included in the package insert and NOT burried in an internal company document!
Then the complainant requested that Mr. K and PP&U go further by placing the other published Warning against mixing or diluting the drug with other chemicals, such as anesthetics or ionic dyes directly onto the glass vial itself. (PP&U claims chemical incompatibility but we feel it's more about the accumulative neurotoxicity.) His response was that the vial label wasn't large enough, therefore "there is no space left for any additional text." This is outrageous! A small separate red sticker with two lines of company text: "NOT FOR EPIDURAL ADMINISTRATION / DO NOT MIX WITH OTHER INJECTATES" is all that was needed. Have they complied? Absolutely not!
Is PP&U profiteering? Are they being deliberately delinquent in their responsibility for the safety of the patients who are getting these unapproved "off label" spinal injections despite their claim to the contrary? Are they secretly marketing this drug for epidural administration even though they officially "recommend against it"? Do they encourage doctors to hold-back reports of serious adverse reactions? And are they ignoring the thousands of Med-Watch and "Severe Medical Event" reports that have been already filed without a whisper from them to the FDA that maybe the drug should be reevaluated and relabeled against such use?
This is a moral insult to anyone who has been harmed by this misused steroid. We at the EDNC intend to change the rules of the game. Please join us if you share our cause because there is strength in numbers! Our mission, which will remain steadfast to the end, will be to enlighten those who seek the truth, to sucessfully petition the FDA to have Depo-Medrol labeled as contraindicated for epidural administration, and to END, once and for all, the horror created at the hands of ignorant physicians and greedy pharmaceutical companies who can only say "We're sorry" as they continue to profit from the new pain & suffering they're causing!
Sincerely,
Dennis James Capolongo / Founder / Director / Depo-Medrol Sufferer
All contents (c) 2005 - EDNC
For Alva & Phoenix
*Unless it's way off topic. ** Click onto "Mr. Krzywicki's Letter" to read his insult for yourself! *** See "A Closer Look.." for more on this.
