FQ Toxicity Awareness Wall of Fame

 

Some very influential medical professionals (doctors, scientists, pharmacists) have been speaking out about fluoroquinolone toxicity.  This post is to thank them and let them know that they are greatly appreciated!

Dr. Charles Bennett, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.P.

Dr. Bennett has filed two petitions with the FDA to get them to change the warning labels for fluoroquinolones.  One of the petitions is to get the FDA to add Psychiatric Adverse Events to the Levaquin/levofloxacin warning label.  The other is to have the FDA add “Possible Mitochondrial Toxicity” to the Levaquin Label.  The petitions have increased the credibility of “floxies” and have been featured in many of the news stories about fluoroquinolones.  If the FDA responds to the petitions by changing the warning labels for fluoroquinolones, it will be a huge “win” for those who have been hurt by fluoroquinolones.

Dr. Bennett has spoken out about the dangers of fluoroquinolones on many of the recent news stories about fluoroquinolone toxicity.  Here is one news story that Dr. Bennett was interviewed for:

Many others can be found on https://floxiehope.com/fluoroquinolones-links-resources/

THANK YOU DR. BENNETT!

Dr. David Perlmutter, M.D.

Dr. Perlmutter spoke out about the dangerous effects of fluoroquinolones in the NBC 2 Fort Myers, Florida report, “NBC2 Investigators: Thousands call for stronger antibiotic warning.”  Dr. Perlmutter noted in his interview that fluoroquinolones are drastically overprescribed, and, “I’d say there’s very little doubt it was directly related to taking those medications” when asked about his patient Jamie Laura’s debilitating symptoms.

Additionally, Dr. Perlmutter made this video about fluoroquinolones and peripheral neuropathy:

Dr. Perlmutter has more than 325,000 facebook “likes.”  He is a very influential neurologist who has been featured on The Dr. Oz Show, Dr. Mercola’s web site (and books), and other highly visible places.  He is the author of Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar–Your Brain’s Silent Killers and Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain–for Life.  For someone of Dr. Perlmutter’s status to be acknowledging fluoroquinolone toxicity is HUGE!

THANK YOU DR. PERLMUTTER!

Dr. Jay S. Cohen, M.D.

Dr. Cohen has been tirelessly studying fluoroquinolone toxicity, and writing articles about the myriad of adverse effects of fluoroquinolones, for more than a decade.  He is the author of the following articles:

• New Warnings for Cipro, Levaquin, and other Quinolone Antibiotics
• Peripheral neuropathy associated with fluoroquinolones
• Reactions to Cipro, Levaquin, and Other Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics
• Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome: A Letter to the Senate Committee on Health, Education & Labor
• New Warnings for Cipro, Levaquin, and other Quinolone Antibiotics
• Severe Reactions to Levaquin, Cipro and Other Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics: Are Doctors in Denial?

Dr. Cohen recently said, “In my 40+ years in pharmacovigilance, FQs (fluoroquinolones) surpass Vioxx and Thalidomide in the degree of permanent harm done.”  If that’s not screaming from the rooftops, I don’t know what is.

THANK YOU DR. COHEN!

Dr. David L. Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP

Dr. Katz is a specialist in Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine/Public Health, and the author of a textbook on evidence-based clinical decisions.  He noted in his Huffington Post article, “Your Doctor’s Knee-Jerk Reflex: How Not to Get Kicked” that:

“I recently saw and began treating a patient for the fluoroquinolone syndrome. Within just a couple of weeks, I heard from a friend who had classic symptoms of it as well, following treatment with Levaquin. In both cases, there was a valid indication for antibiotic use. But there was also good reason to doubt the need for such a high-powered, broad-spectrum antibiotic in both cases. Often, the easiest way for a busy clinician to be sure to “cover the bases” with an antibiotic is to go after a fly with an elephant gun. The collateral damage can, predictably, be considerable; a consequence of knee-jerk prescribing.”

That is very nice acknowledgement of fluoroquinolone syndrome and noting of the over-use of these consequential drugs.

THANK YOU DR. KATZ!

Suzy Cohen, RPh

According to her bio on Amazon, “Suzy Cohen, America’s Pharmacist is the author of 8 books. She is the co-host of a free worldwide event which you can watch from home called The Thyroid Summit.com.  Suzy has been a licensed pharmacist for more than 24 years, and she is a Functional Medicine practitioner. In addition to writing a syndicated health column, Dear Pharmacist, for the last 16 years, which circulates to millions of readers each week, Suzy hosts a medical minute on Know the Cause television. She has a Huffington Post blog. You may have seen her on the The Dr. Oz Show, The View, The Doctors, The 700 Club and Good Morning America Health. She has appeared in hundreds of magazines and television shows nationwide. Her books are translated into various languages. Memberships include: The American College for Advancement in Medicine, The Institute of Functional Medicine, The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine American Pharmacist’s Association, International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society.”

In her November, 2014 post, “I’m Going to Ruffle Feathers but I’ll Tell You Anyway” she noted:

“A few popular antibiotics affect DNA similar to some chemotherapy agents. If you’re sensitive to them, you could pay a neurological price that causes sudden and serious neuropathy and degrees of brain damage. The drugs that the FDA is concerned about belong to the fluoroquinolone class, and already have a black box warning for increasing the risk of tendon ruptures. But I’m telling you that more reports have come in with accusations of neurological damage. Personally, I would only use these for life-threatening infections that were unresponsive to older regular antibiotics. I wouldn’t take them if I had a regular old urinary tract or sinus infection.”

It is awesome that someone as influential as Suzy Cohen acknowledges the dangerous effects of fluoroquinolones!

THANK YOU SUZY COHEN!

Dr. Beatrice Alexandra Golomb, MD, PhD

Dr. Golomb’s C.V./resume lists her many accomplishments – http://www.fqstudy.info/Fluoroquinolone_Effects_Study/About_Dr._Golomb.html

Dr. Golomb is conducting the Fluoroquinolone Effects Study through the UC San Diego School of Medicine.

A description of Dr. Golomb’s involvement with the “floxie” community can be found on www.myquinstory.info, “Fluoroquinolone Academic Research Update – Dr. Beatrice Golomb UCSD.”

Dr. Golomb’s work brings an enormous amount of credibility to those who are floxed.

THANK YOU DR. GOLOMB!

Dr. Joseph Mercola, M.D.

Dr. Joseph Mercola  is a “family physician and founder of www.mercola.com with more than thirty million monthly views that help people find safe and inexpensive nutritional, lifestyle and exercise options to dangerous drugs and surgeries.” (per his bio on Amazon).  He has over ONE MILLION facebook “likes” and is highly influential.

The following articles about FQ toxicity were published on www.mercola.com:

• “Warning: Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics May Cause Permanent Nerve Damage” (63k shares)
• “Antibiotic Alert: The Drug the Doctor Ordered Could Cause Deadly Side Effects” (19k shares)
• “Bitter Pill: The Dangerous Side Effects of Fluoridated Antibiotics” (26k shares)
• “Antibiotics to Avoid Like the Plague Due to FDA’s Oversight Failure” (699 shares)

Dr. Mercola has been instrumental in getting the word out about the dangers of fluoroquinolones.

THANK YOU DR. MERCOLA!

The medical professionals mentioned above are very influential (and even famous).  There are many other physicians who are speaking out about the dangers of fluoroquinolones, but who don’t quite have the reach that fame gives those mentioned above.  Their voices are important too though, and I encourage everyone to click on the following document that describes fluoroquinolone toxicity in the words of the doctors affected by it:

http://fluoroquinolonethyroid.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/FQ-Adverse-Effects-In-Their-Own-Words-from-Physicians.pdf

There are many other doctors (and other medical professionals) who have spoken out about the dangers of fluoroquinolones and I, as well as others in the “floxie” community, appreciate each and every one of them!  There is no way I could possibly include them all in this post and I will likely do a follow-up post featuring others who are speaking out about the dangerous effects of fluoroquinolones.  For now, a huge THANK YOU goes out to Dr. Bennett, Dr. Perlmutter, Dr. Cohen, Dr. Katz, Dr. Golomb, Dr. Mercola and Suzy Cohen.  You are all appreciated!

A list of doctors who have been favorably reviewed by fellow floxies can be found HERE.

We’re getting to the tipping point of awareness about fluoroquinolone toxicity.  Soon, it will only be the willfully ignorant doctors who don’t read warning labels or research articles, who don’t watch the news (story 1, story 2, story 3, story 4), and who don’t listen to their peers or their patients, that claim that fluoroquinolones are “safe and effective” drugs.  They may be effective, but they’re far from safe.  The doctors listed above know it, patients know it, all physicians should know it.