Other side of story on drugs from Mexico

After reading the front page story Feb. 19 regarding the government report warning about buying prescriptions in Mexico, I had to write. Only those who down-played its significance were quoted. My husband and I have experienced crucial reasons to be wary.

Exactly one year ago we purchased two bottles of U.S. (Puerto Rico) Pfizer Lipitor, 10 mg. at a border pharmacy. My husband, a retired police officer, was uncomfortable when the pharmacist said he'd go out back to another building to get the U.S. requested bottles, but I said to him that he was too suspicious. A few days later when his old prescription was gone, he began taking the new Lipitor.

In April, back home in the Midwest, he learned after his physical exam that his total cholesterol had jumped 70 points, though taking the same amount of Lipitor. Bewildered, because the four months that we'd been away he'd walked six brisk miles each morning, he called Pfizer's customer relations who arranged for Fed Ex to pick up the bottles for their analysis.

In a few weeks he received a refund for the total amount he had paid in Mexico and a letter stating that there was no Lipitor in those pills and that they were bogus pills. It also stated that Pfizer and other investigators and authorities would be delving into the bogus drug situation in Mexico.

After my husband took his regular prescription again for two months, he tested normal. What of the thousands of people who must take much larger amounts, crucial amounts, and may get bogus medication? How many die and the cause is never suspected? In my husband's case, it was a small amount and for a short time... but for others?

Wait, there's more. Two years ago, also in Los Algodones, because of serious dental work I was prescribed two medications for pain and infection. I had taken it only one day before I had several hours of serious chest pain and also fainted! Medical tests here were inconclusive and it was recommended I see a cardiologist upon returning home to the Midwest. (I took no more of the pills and chest symptoms gradually went away.)

At my clinic and hospital I was given a full battery of heart tests, including an angiogram, which were all normal. The three doctors that I saw during each of those tests told me that the two drugs I was prescribed in Mexico are not a good combination. In addition, it cost me over $5,000 more in the U.S. to repair the damage done to my mouth in Mexico, which also caused the loss of three teeth!

Oh, I know, many thousands seem to be happy with things in Mexico, but beware. We don't go there anymore because of our experiences. We were upset with ourselves for not learning the lesson after the first episode (mine). We are both quite healthy and fit and work to stay that way.

MARCIA SEVERSON

Yuma