By Caitlin Tilley, Dailymail.Com Health Reporter
18:12 02 March 2024, 18:13 02 March 2024 Updated
- “It was so intense and sudden. It devastated my husband,” Mary Caldwell said.
- Have you ever been deceived? Contact [email protected]
- Read more: Bobby Caldwell dies at 71 after being ‘phloxed’
The widow of legendary singer Bobby Caldwell is at the center of a multi-million dollar lawsuit and has opened up about her hellish later life as she battled the side effects of common antibiotics.
The star was prescribed a fluoroquinolone to treat a cold in 2017, but within a week he was bedridden. It ravaged his body, leaving him with “unbearable” neurological damage and sending him into a fatal course, ultimately succumbing to heart disease last year at the age of 71.
“It was so intense and sudden. It devastated my husband,” Mary Caldwell told DailyMail.com.
For most of her later years, the confident performer she knew and loved simply “sat and cried” due to excruciating pain.
Mary is trying to raise awareness so others don’t suffer like Bobby did, but the drug continues to be prescribed to tens of millions of Americans each year.
Last week, a mother was prescribed the same antibiotic to treat a UTI. was After having a similar reaction, I was unable to walk.
Bobby’s ordeal began on January 13, 2017, a day his wife will never forget – it was her birthday.
Bobby suffered from an “annoying” runny nose and cough and was prescribed cough syrup and Levaquin, a brand of levofloxacin, a type of fluoroquinolone used to treat bacterial infections.
He took 7 pills over 7 days.
“I didn’t think anything of it,” Mrs. Caldwell said. After just one week, Bobby could no longer get out of bed.
“Mary, I can’t stand up. My ankle hurts and I feel like I’m dying,” he said to his wife.
His ankle was beginning to swell. “I couldn’t believe it,” Mrs. Caldwell said. ‘It noticed me [that it might be the medicine]. ”
Mrs. Caldwell picked up the bottle and Googled it. “She started looking at horror novels and law firms, which sent chills down her spine,” she said.
During that week, it was discovered that the drug had caused both of Bobby’s Achilles tendons to rupture.
Dr. Mark Garili, a board-certified physician in Los Angeles, California, told DailyMail.com that the drug “disrupts collagen production.”
“If we can’t produce collagen, our tendons become very weak and brittle,” he says.
In 2008, the first black box label was added to fluoroquinolones to warn patients about the increased risk of tendon rupture and tendonitis (inflammation of the tendon).
The problem affects up to 1 in 250 people, but the older the patient, the greater the risk of damage that can lead to broader health problems.
Doctors don’t tell their patients about them because they aren’t taught about them in medical school, Dr. Galili said.
“The pain started in the bottom of my foot and ankle and continued to increase as time went on, progressing to my knee and eventually affecting my hand,” Caldwell said.
“He couldn’t feel anything. His fingers were numb. He was constantly in severe pain. He didn’t sleep much. If he slept two hours in a row, it was quite That was the amount.”
“He suffered until his death,” Mrs. Caldwell said.
Bobby’s nerve damage was irreversible, so doctors could only prescribe painkillers, but they didn’t help, his wife said.
The couple sought advice from doctors across the United States, but “no one could come up with a solution.”
‘[Bobby’s Achilles tendons tearing] It was scary, but not the worst,” his wife said.
The antibiotics also caused permanent nerve damage, leaving Bobby with peripheral neuropathy and causing “unrelenting and horrific pain”, Mrs Caldwell said.
Fluoroquinolones rapidly stop the activity of essential enzymes. This means that bacteria cannot reproduce.
The drug only enters cells that have nasty bacteria. Because they interfere with DNA, cells stop producing enzymes and die.
Because the drug works quickly, side effects can also appear quickly.
Nerves are lined with endoneurium, a layer of delicate connective tissue made up of collagen fibers.
“When the collagen fibers that protect the nerves are destroyed, the nerves are exposed to oxidative stress and damage,” Dr. Galili says.
Dr. Galili sympathizes with Bobby because he was prescribed antibiotics when he was young and was prepared to die.
“At my worst, I would call the local cemetery and give my family my final wishes,” he told the ABC.
Currently, six fluoroquinolones are approved for use in the United States: ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, gemifloxacin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, and delafloxacin.
About 14.8 million people were prescribed them in 2022, according to figures provided by the CDC.
Recommended uses include anthrax, gonorrhea, typhoid fever, complicated bacterial infections, and urinary tract infections. If other treatments fail.
Since the 1980s, the FDA has received hundreds of thousands of reports of serious adverse events related to fluoroquinolones from more than 60,000 patients.
The most frequent side effects include tendon rupture, neurological symptoms, and psychiatric symptoms.
The drug is meant to be used as a last resort, but is overprescribed by doctors, the American Pharmacists Association said.
“The side effects of these drugs are never taught in medical school,” Dr. Galili says.
“I spoke to many people and acquaintances who were affected by it. [who has]. Some people have died after receiving two doses,” Mrs Caldwell said.
“The other scary aspect is…you can take Cipro or Levaquin and it’s fine. The next time you take it, all hell will break loose.”
She added: “I’m not saying this drug doesn’t have a purpose, because it does.” If you have anthrax or a bacterial infection that doesn’t respond to antibiotics, this is your last resort. It becomes.
“There could still be side effects, but it could save lives. The problem is these doctors are throwing it at people. Oh, you got a urinary tract infection? Go ahead.” Oh, you have some kind of infection. Please. Oh, do you have some kind of infection? Please.
“This is a drug with a black box warning label and a history of lawsuits and warnings from the FDA here in the state. Are doctors doing their homework?”
Bobby’s wife claimed he was never informed about the risks of the drug.
“The guy just gave him a prescription. Nothing was said at the pharmacy.”
“If you read the FDA’s black box warning, it says it shouldn’t be given to people over 60. It’s basically saying this is a last resort.”
Bobby was 65 years old when he received his prescription.
Nerve damage caused severe pain and a tendon rupture left him bedridden, setting Bobby on a fatal course and ultimately succumbing to heart disease.
“He died in my arms,” Mrs. Caldwell said.
“My message is, before you swallow anything, please research and discuss it. Ask if there is a black box warning label on it,” she said.
“Just don’t trust blindly, because we did…you really have to question it and do your own research. If they say no, that’s not going to happen. Excuse me. , bull***. It happens.
“The scary thing is that once it happens, like it did with Bobby, it’s often irreversible,” she added.
In December 2016, Dr. Galili had just completed his medical training. He was also prescribed Cipro for an infection.
He was running on a treadmill at the gym when his leg buckled and he lost control of his limbs.
Dr. Galili lost the ability to walk and was forced to crawl. “I became addicted to that drug,” he said.
Before the incident, Dr. Galili had also been prescribing drugs to his own patients.
He turned to alternative therapies, and after six months in a wheelchair, an experimental stem cell injection helped him walk again.
Dr. Galili is currently working to help patients recover from the devastating consequences of taking antibiotics.
