Five ETHEX Drug Recalls "Excessive"

Bullhead City, AZWhen Fletcher W. received a notification that his medication, made by ETHEX Corporation, was recalled, he realized that his chest pain had been caused by the isosorbide mononitrate he was taking. Like many people who were put at risk of an ETHEX Corporation drug overdose, Fletcher suffered some side effects from his medication. Luckily, he received his recall notice before any serious harm was done.

"I had been having chest pains for a few days, my chest felt tight, and I had shortness of breath, so I went to the hospital," Fletcher says. "They ran tests during the 4 days I was there—I was given a CAT scan and an angiogram. The doctors couldn't find out anything. They did not know what was causing it. I went ahead and dismissed myself from the hospital. Then, I went home and started taking the medication I always take.

"My chest started hurting again. Then, I got a letter from Sam's Club. It was a letter of recall for the isosorbide mononitrate. I went into Sam's Club and got a new prescription and ever since I got that new prescription, my chest has been fine. I know the problems I was having were because of the overdose."

Isosorbide mononitrate is 1 of 5 drugs made by ETHEX that have been recalled because they contain too much of their active ingredient. That overdose can cause serious problems, including low blood pressure and fainting. Fletcher says he had been taking isosorbide mononitrate for about 35 days before he went into the hospital.

"It wasn't a lot of pain, probably about a 4 [on the pain scale]," Fletcher says. "It was constant and I was tired. I thought I was having a chest cold. The pain was in the same place as my heart attack, but it didn't feel the same. I had the pain for about 4 or 5 days before I went to the hospital. It got worse during those days.

"At the hospital, they had no idea what was causing the chest pain and that was why I checked myself out. I had taken days off for my 37 anniversary and I didn't want to spend the whole time in the hospital. Also, while I was in the hospital I didn't take the medication, so my chest wasn't bothering me."

Fletcher says his chest stopped hurting a couple of days after he switched his prescription. "There was too much medication in that drug. I still had chest pain for a day or so, but my body finally got rid of the excess that I had."

Fletcher is still waiting to see how much he will have to pay for his hospital stay and the tests that were performed. Although he has some medical coverage, he is not certain that the tests will be covered.

"You trust these pharmaceutical companies to make medications. You'd think they'd have better quality control before the drugs go out on the market. I found out that ETHEX has 5 recalls this year; that seems a bit excessive."

Fletcher was lucky that he did not suffer more serious problems from the isosorbide mononitrate. Unfortunately, some people believe their loved ones may have died after being exposed to an overdose of medication in ETHEX drugs. They are now trying to determine if their loved ones did, indeed, pay the ultimate price after taking drugs with too much medication.