By Sharon Salyer
Herald Writer
Patients are so desperate to stock up on anthrax-fighting antibiotic Cipro that some are faking symptoms to try to get it, said a nurse at an Everett medical clinic.
"I’ve had friends call and say, ‘Do you have any Cipro over there?" Maryanne Trengove, a registered nurse at Everett Family Practice, said. Other patients have called describing symptoms of bladder infections, which they don’t have, to try to get a prescription.
"You get hoarding when people are afraid," she said. "When you’re unsure, that’s when you see … the deviousness of trying to get it called in (to pharmacies) for nonlegitimate reasons."
Trengove said she is amazed at how quickly the public has learned about the drug, which prior to last month’s terrorists attacks few patients knew by name. "I would say nine out of ten know what it is now," she said.
She tries to convince patients that they don’t need private supplies of the drug, generically known as ciproflaxacin hydrochloride.
Many already know that more harm than good can be done by taking unneeded antibiotics, she said, a message officials from major health care organizations tried to drive home during a news conference in Seattle on Tuesday.
Dr. Maxine Hayes, who heads the state Health Department, said there are adequate supplies of the drug for those who really need it to fight anthrax.
"Currently we have plenty of antibiotics available for use should we need them," Hayes said. "That would not be true if the entire public begins hoarding and stockpiling antibiotics they do not need."
Hayes said she understands the public’s anxiety over the issue. "I would tell them not to panic and to look at the facts as we know it," she said. No anthrax cases have been diagnosed in Washington.
Hayes said the agency will conduct a statewide survey of pharmacies to see if there’s been a run on the drug recently. The survey is expected to be completed within the month.
You can call Herald Writer Sharon Salyer at 425-339-3486
or send e-mail to salyer@heraldnet.com.
Associated Press
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