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taking fish pills
susie
Member Posts: 7,666 ✭✭✭✭
Darwin Award Nominees or a continuation of the no lifeguard at the gene pool saga:
Stupid Human Tricks
Taking Fish Antibiotics Isn't Wise, Say Experts, Unless You've Got Tail Rot or Body Slime
Pills for fish may not be manufactured under the same sterile conditions or contain the same ingredients as those for humans. (Julia Ewan - The Washington Post)
Here's a new one: Guy with a bad sinus infection decides to treat it himself. Buys blister packs of penicillin and other antibiotics -- not at a drugstore but at a pet store. Takes medicines formulated for fish that don't require a prescription. Gets worse. Breaks down and goes to a clinic. For humans.
This true story, recounted by doctors at the Pentagon's DiLorenzo Tricare Health Clinic in a recent letter in the New England Journal of Medicine, highlights one of the more unusual examples of drug-seeking behavior: the potentially dangerous practice of using veterinary antibiotics to treat human infections.
The patient, identified only as a soldier with the Army's Special Forces, told Army physician Brandon J. Goff that this over-the-counter source of antibiotics is "common knowledge among all branches of the American Special Forces community," whose members are trained to act decisively and take care of themselves.
Out of curiosity, Goff wrote, he visited two Washington area pet superstores to see what was available. In the "fish medication" aisle of both he found a wide variety of antibiotics, including penicillin, tetracycline, erythromycin and sulfa, all of which are commonly prescribed to treat human infections. Because of a legal loophole, fish antibiotics, which are formulated to dissolve in a tank, do not require a veterinarian's prescription, unlike similar medications for cats, dogs and other animals.
Goff's letter, published July 15, has triggered a review of sales practices by some pet stores and an educational effort by the Department of Defense to warn troops of the dangers of self-diagnosis and self-medication -- especially with pet pills.
Military officials, who declined to release any details about the sinusitis patient or to permit Goff to be interviewed, said the Army's surgeon general was especially concerned that publicity about the practice reflected unfavorably on the quality of military medicine. "This is a very sensitive subject around here," one Army spokesman said.
Others were less circumspect. "To tell you the truth, I was shocked when I heard about this," said San Diego veterinarian Judy St. Leger, a consultant to Petco, which sells a wide variety of fish antibiotics in its stores and on its Web site. "It seemed to me to be an inordinately ill-advised thing for a person to do." St. Leger said that as a result, the pet industry was reviewing the way it sells antibiotics.
There are several dangers posed by human consumption of antibiotics meant to treat tail rot, body slime and other fish maladies. Even though these drugs may resemble the pills prescribed for people, they are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), don't have to be manufactured under the same sterile conditions and they might not contain exactly the same ingredients. Some may contain impurities or other substances that can be harmful to humans and their potency cannot be guaranteed.
For example, the 250-milligram tablets of penicillin designed to treat tail rot and gill disease may not be exactly the same medicine as the 250-milligram tablets of penicillin given to humans to eradicate strep throat, even though they look similar and have the same name.
"Certainly a person should not assume that a product sold to treat a condition in fish would work for a different condition in a person," warned Linda Grassie, a spokeswoman for the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine.
It's impossible to know how many people take veterinary drugs, although officials at the Pentagon, the FDA and Petco said they did not think the practice was common. Some emergency room physicians say they occasionally treat people who have taken animal tranquilizers, pain medications or steroids, but these cases are rare.
And as it turns out, most fish antibiotics are no bargain.
A package of eight tetracycline tablets meant for fish costs $4.29 at Petco, while a standard supply of 30 pills for people costs $7.99 at Drugstore.com.
In his 1992 book "The Antibiotic Paradox," Stuart B. Levy, a professor of medicine at Tufts University and one of the world's leading experts on the misuse of antibiotics, recounted several examples of pet store owners who treated themselves with animal antibiotics.
"Until I saw this letter, I never suspected that people other than pet store [personnel] did this," Levy said. Perhaps, he added, doctors should start asking patients whether they have gotten antibiotics "from another source" -- like a pet store.
c 2002 The Washington Post Company
***There's a difference between living and living well!***
Stupid Human Tricks
Taking Fish Antibiotics Isn't Wise, Say Experts, Unless You've Got Tail Rot or Body Slime
Pills for fish may not be manufactured under the same sterile conditions or contain the same ingredients as those for humans. (Julia Ewan - The Washington Post)
Here's a new one: Guy with a bad sinus infection decides to treat it himself. Buys blister packs of penicillin and other antibiotics -- not at a drugstore but at a pet store. Takes medicines formulated for fish that don't require a prescription. Gets worse. Breaks down and goes to a clinic. For humans.
This true story, recounted by doctors at the Pentagon's DiLorenzo Tricare Health Clinic in a recent letter in the New England Journal of Medicine, highlights one of the more unusual examples of drug-seeking behavior: the potentially dangerous practice of using veterinary antibiotics to treat human infections.
The patient, identified only as a soldier with the Army's Special Forces, told Army physician Brandon J. Goff that this over-the-counter source of antibiotics is "common knowledge among all branches of the American Special Forces community," whose members are trained to act decisively and take care of themselves.
Out of curiosity, Goff wrote, he visited two Washington area pet superstores to see what was available. In the "fish medication" aisle of both he found a wide variety of antibiotics, including penicillin, tetracycline, erythromycin and sulfa, all of which are commonly prescribed to treat human infections. Because of a legal loophole, fish antibiotics, which are formulated to dissolve in a tank, do not require a veterinarian's prescription, unlike similar medications for cats, dogs and other animals.
Goff's letter, published July 15, has triggered a review of sales practices by some pet stores and an educational effort by the Department of Defense to warn troops of the dangers of self-diagnosis and self-medication -- especially with pet pills.
Military officials, who declined to release any details about the sinusitis patient or to permit Goff to be interviewed, said the Army's surgeon general was especially concerned that publicity about the practice reflected unfavorably on the quality of military medicine. "This is a very sensitive subject around here," one Army spokesman said.
Others were less circumspect. "To tell you the truth, I was shocked when I heard about this," said San Diego veterinarian Judy St. Leger, a consultant to Petco, which sells a wide variety of fish antibiotics in its stores and on its Web site. "It seemed to me to be an inordinately ill-advised thing for a person to do." St. Leger said that as a result, the pet industry was reviewing the way it sells antibiotics.
There are several dangers posed by human consumption of antibiotics meant to treat tail rot, body slime and other fish maladies. Even though these drugs may resemble the pills prescribed for people, they are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), don't have to be manufactured under the same sterile conditions and they might not contain exactly the same ingredients. Some may contain impurities or other substances that can be harmful to humans and their potency cannot be guaranteed.
For example, the 250-milligram tablets of penicillin designed to treat tail rot and gill disease may not be exactly the same medicine as the 250-milligram tablets of penicillin given to humans to eradicate strep throat, even though they look similar and have the same name.
"Certainly a person should not assume that a product sold to treat a condition in fish would work for a different condition in a person," warned Linda Grassie, a spokeswoman for the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine.
It's impossible to know how many people take veterinary drugs, although officials at the Pentagon, the FDA and Petco said they did not think the practice was common. Some emergency room physicians say they occasionally treat people who have taken animal tranquilizers, pain medications or steroids, but these cases are rare.
And as it turns out, most fish antibiotics are no bargain.
A package of eight tetracycline tablets meant for fish costs $4.29 at Petco, while a standard supply of 30 pills for people costs $7.99 at Drugstore.com.
In his 1992 book "The Antibiotic Paradox," Stuart B. Levy, a professor of medicine at Tufts University and one of the world's leading experts on the misuse of antibiotics, recounted several examples of pet store owners who treated themselves with animal antibiotics.
"Until I saw this letter, I never suspected that people other than pet store [personnel] did this," Levy said. Perhaps, he added, doctors should start asking patients whether they have gotten antibiotics "from another source" -- like a pet store.
c 2002 The Washington Post Company
***There's a difference between living and living well!***
Comments
Best!!
Rugster
Toujours Pret
Somehow I always thought our special forces men were a tad smarter than the average grunt.
I guess that'll teach me for "thoughting"
"The great object is that every man.... everyone who is able may have a gun." Patrick Henry
All SF people are trained in basic medical techniques, but the SF medics are the best in the world. Many medics go on to become physicians, some even become the Surgeon General.
There are many sources of antibiotics available, and SF people are taught where to find them. Yes, even veterinary antibiotics will work when there's nothing else available. The key is to know what they will treat and the proper dosage - it would seem that the person in this article didn't know either.
Remember, all medications are tested on animals first.
"If you can do it, it ain't braggin'".
JR Ewing - "Dallas"