HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - Does your chemo nurse let you see the bag before she/he hangs it?

NanaJoni · 07-26-2012, 12:30 PM

Bonnie's right about the word "vigilance". We have a situation here in my home town - two oncologists were buying Avastin from a supplier in Montana who was selling it $400 cheaper per vial. Turns out the guy in Montana was getting the stuff from another guy in Cairo, Egypt - not Illinois -and it was counterfeit. Yup - just saline and some other useless stuff. The labels were in foreign languages and the lot numbers were fake. Sadly a lot of people will never know if they got this junk or not. Apparently with many of the infusion drugs, the drug itself is added to a bag of saline in the clinic's pharmacy and then brought to the patient. Still can't be too careful and we need to check that we are getting the right bag. The FDA is investigating 85 doctors across the US about this fraud and it may get worse. And, no, the doctors weren't passing the savings along to the patients - just getting more in profit.

07-26-2012, 12:30 PM	#18
NanaJoni Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Elizabethton, TN Posts: 418	Re: Does your chemo nurse let you see the bag before she/he hangs it? Bonnie's right about the word "vigilance". We have a situation here in my home town - two oncologists were buying Avastin from a supplier in Montana who was selling it $400 cheaper per vial. Turns out the guy in Montana was getting the stuff from another guy in Cairo, Egypt - not Illinois -and it was counterfeit. Yup - just saline and some other useless stuff. The labels were in foreign languages and the lot numbers were fake. Sadly a lot of people will never know if they got this junk or not. Apparently with many of the infusion drugs, the drug itself is added to a bag of saline in the clinic's pharmacy and then brought to the patient. Still can't be too careful and we need to check that we are getting the right bag. The FDA is investigating 85 doctors across the US about this fraud and it may get worse. And, no, the doctors weren't passing the savings along to the patients - just getting more in profit. __________________ Joni -64 yrs old - 3/01/10: found lump in rt.breast 3/12/10: mammogram/ultrasnd/biopsy-invasive bc & DCIS; 2 tumors (2cm er-/pr-/HER2-& 1.8 cm er-/pr-/HER2+); grade 3;poorly differentiated 3/24/10:sent.node biopsy clear 3/31/10:bi-lateral mx.;atypical ductal hyperplasia-lft side 4/21/10:wound revision-infection/scarring 4/28/10:seromas both sides 5/21/10:port installed,TCH chemo (6 x 3 wks); Herc,-1yr; 33 rad tx after chemo 07/2010: port not working-2nd port didnt'work;3rd port opposite side. 07/2010: 2 weeks after 3rd port surgery, threw 3 pulm. emboli-IVC filter installed; warfarin 08/2010: hospitalizations w/3 of chemos; decision to stop after 4th-on to radiation in Oct 2010;Herc cont. 12/03/2010 - finished 33 rads Hooray!! cont. Herc. every 3 wks 4/2011 - pneumonia ??? Nope-radiation pneumonitis. No more Herc. 5/2011 - NED!!! port out. 8/2011 - clean PET & CT scans.Still NED 7/2012 - Still NED/very blessed. 2/2013 - 6 mos checkup-all clear. CA2729 down frm 13 to 11.