SATURDAY.
SATURDAY. ANOTHER PHARMACY FAILURE.
"I SAW YOUR PREVIOUS STORY AND IT HIT HOME THAT
PEOPLE DON'T DESERVE TO BE HURT.
PEOPLE DESERVE TO BE
HEARD. AND I DON'T WANT ANYONE
ELSE HURT."
JOSSELYN STEVENS CALLED US AFTER
A SHOT
A SHOT
THE
THE MEDICINE SHE RECEIVED LEFT HER WITH A HOLE IN HER ARM.
THE KVUE DEFENDERS EXPOSED HOW
PHARMACIES
THAT MIX THEIR OWN MEDICATIONS
ARE LOOSELY
REGULATED AND THE MEDICATIONS
ARE NOT FDA
APPROVED.
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER ERICA
PROFFER IS BACK WITH
ANOTHER PATIENT HARMED FROM
COMPOUNDED
DRUGS.
COMPOUNDED DRUGS. ERICA:
DRUGS. ERICA: COMPOUNDING PHARMACIES TAILOR
MEDICINE FOR PATIENTS.
THEY'RE NEEDED FOR FOLKS WHO
CAN'T TAKE A STANDARD
MANUFACTURED DRUG.
BUT THERE'S NO FDA TESTING AND
APPROVAL FOR EACH
TAILORED PRESCRIPTION.
AND WHEN THINGS GO WRONG.
PATIENTS CAN
BE SCARED FOR LIFE.
PKG:
"WE HAVE BEEN MARRIED FOR SIX
YEARS. TOGETHER FOR
ALMOST 9 YEARS"
IF THREE KIDS DIDN'T KEEP
JOSSELYN AND TREVOR
STEVENS BUSY ENOUGH.
"PRETTY MUCH AND UNDERSTATEMENT.
THEY KEEP
US VERY BUSEY"
JOSSELYN'S HEALTH REQUIRES
FREQUENT
DOCTORS VISITS.
DOCTORS VISITS.
"I
"I WOULD
"I WOULD BE HAVING A CONVERSATION AND BE LIKE WHERE AM I? WHAT AM I DOING?"
SHE HAS A GENETIC DISORDER. ..
CAUSING
SEIZURES.
CAUSING SEIZURES. REGULAR B-12 SHOTS PREVENT THEM.
"FOR ME, I HAVE TO HAVE IT
WEEKLY,"
THE SEIZURES STOPPED IN 2014
WHEN DOCTORS PRESCRIBED A
SPECIFIC B-12 SHOT, TAILORED AT
A COMPOUNDING
PHARMACY.
SHE CAN COUNT MORE THAN 250
ROUNDS OVER THE YEARS.
EVERYTHING WAS GOING FINE. UNTIL
LAST MONTH.
LAST MONTH.
"IT
"IT WAS
"IT WAS EXCRUCIATING IT WAS BURNING." "I FELT LIKE SOMETHING WAS TRICKLING DOWN MY
ARM"
BUT NOTHING WAS.
SHE SAYS HEADACHES CAME SHORTLY
AFTER.
DIZZINESS. DISORIENTATION.
JOSSELYN 6:00
"I WAS LIKE, 'WHOA'"
THE SHOT BURNED HER SKIN AND WAS
GOING DEEPER.
"THE DERMATOLOGIST SAID IT WAS A
CHEMICAL BURN
AND IT HAD COMPLETELY NECROSED.
AND THAT I
NEEDED TO GO TO THE EMERGENCY
ROOM."
LAB RECORDS SHOW THE B-12 HAD A
PH LEVEL EQUAL TO
BLEACH.
A SURGEON REMOVED ALL OF THE
BURNED SKIN
COMMON WORD
.
AND YOU PROBABLY NOTICED
JOSSELYN'S
HAIR.
JOSSELYN'S HAIR. STAGE THREE BREAST CANCER.
A DOUBLE MASTECTOMY IN APRIL.
SO, GOING UNDER ANASTHESIA FOR
SURGERY FOR
THE CHEMICAL BURN COULD
CONTAMINATE HER CENTRAL
LINE. NEEDED FOR RECEIVING
CHEMO-THERAPY
DRUGS.
CHEMO-THERAPY DRUGS. AN INFECTION COULD KILL HER.
"SO I DID THE PROCEDURE AWAKE IN
THE SURGEON'S
OFFICE"
"ERICA: WERE YOU GOING THROUGH
CHEMO AT THAT
POINT? JOSSELYN: YES, STILL AM.
ERICA: STILL GOING
THROUGH CHEMO"
"IT WAS DEVASTATING. IT WAS
DEVASTATING TO
HAVE ANOTHER HURDLE
TO HAVE TO OVERCOME. IT'S
DEVASTING TO WORRY."
WHEN MOM'S GO THROUGH THIS MUCH
PAIN.
PAIN.
"SORRY"
"SORRY" THE FAMILY FEELS IT, TOO. "I CAN'T EVEN PUMP SOAP WITHOUT
IT HURTING."
TREVOR: HAVING THREE KIDS
RUNNING AROUND THE
HOUSE. JOSSELYN: HAVING THREE
KIDS. TREVOR:
BUMPING INTO EVERYTHING.
JOSSELYN: YEAH TREVOR:
BUMPING INTO HER. JOSSELYN:
BUMPING INTO ME."
JOSSELYN'S SPECIALIZED B- 12
CAME FROM STONEGATE
PHARMACY.
THE SAME PHARMACY WE TOLD YOU
ABOUT IN MAY.
"A COMPOUNDING PHARMACY THAT
MIXES IT'S OWN
MEDICATIONS."
WHEN A SPECIALLY MIXED THYROID
MEDICINE
NEARLY KILLED LORENA
LOPEZ-GONZALEZ.
RECORDS SHOW IT WAS 54- THOUSAND
PERCENT
HIGHER THAN HER PRESCRIBED
DOSAGE.
"IT MAKES ME FEEL LIKE IT'S A
MIRACLE THAT I DID NOT DIE."
BOARD AND STONEGATE DENIAL
LAST YEAR. THE TEXAS STATE BOARD
OF PHARMACY
FINED STONEGATE FOR SEVERAL
MISTAKES FROM
2014 THROUGH 2016.
THE BOARD REQUIRED THE PHARMCY
TO IMPLEMENT A CORRECTIVE ACTION
PLAN AND PUT STONEGATE ON
PROBATION FOR FIVE YEARS.
"ONE PERSON WITH AN INJURY TO MY
EXTENT SHOULD AT
LEAST CALL FOR A RECALL."
THE PHARMACY BOARD DIRECTOR,
ALLISON BENZ,
AGREES.
"WE REQUIRE PHARMACIES TO
INSTITUTE RECALLS ON
THEIR COMPOUNDED MEDICATIONS IF
THEY BECOME
AWARE OF A PROBLEM WITH ONE OF
THEIR PRODUCTS THAT
THEY HAVE COMPOUNDED"
WE TRIED ASKING STONEGATE IF
THEY RECALLED
THE B-12.
"CALL YOUR ATTORNEY?"
THEY QUICKLY REFERRED US TO
THEIR ATTORNEY.
"I HAVEN'T EVEN ASKED YOU A
QUESTION?"
WE CALLED AND EMAILED. BUT WAS
TOLD HE IS OUT OF THE
COUNTRY.
"MY PURPOSE FOR CONTACTING YOU
WAS TO
HELP PEOPLE EVEN IF THERE IS
JUST
JUST ONE
JUST ONE PERSON," JOSSELYN FILED COMPLAINTS WITH THE FDA AND THE STATE
BOARD OF PHARMACY.
BUT AS WE SHOWED WITH LORENA'S
CASE, IT CAN TAKE
YEARS FOR THE STATE TO
INVESTIGATE AND TAKE
ENFORCEMENT ACTION.
"I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT"
SEAN BREEN REPRESENTS JOSSELYN
IN A LAWSUIT FILED
LAST WEEK AGAINST STONEGATE
CLAIMING
NEGLIGENCE.
CLAIMING NEGLIGENCE. "THEY'RE NOT GOING TO WAIT
AROUND FOR THE PHARMACY
BOARD FOR TWO YEARS. THEY'RE NOT
GOING TO WAIT AROUND
FOR THE FDA . THEY'RE GOING TO
EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS IN
COURT TO HAVE 12 PEOPLE IN
TRAVIS COUNTY SAY ENOUGH IS
ENOUGH. THIS IS MULTIPLE NOW."
AS FOR JOSSELYN AND HER FAMILY.
TWO MORE
ROUNDS OF CHEMO LEFT. AND EIGHT
MORE WOUND
SCRAPING VISITS.
"EVERYTHING THAT I'VE HAD TO GO
THROUGH OVER THE LAST
8 MONTHS HAS BEEN DEVASTATING.
IT JUST FELT
LIKE THE ODDS WERE AGAINST ME."
TO TOP IT ALL OFF. JOSSELYN HAD
HER
HER GALL
HER GALL BLADDER REMOVED A MONTH BEFORE HER MASTECTOMY. THREE DIFFERENT SURGERIES THIS
YEAR. THE PHARMACY BOARD WANTS
COMPOUNDING PHARMACIES
INSPECTED EVERY TWO YEARS. THE
LEGISLATURE
RECENTLY PROVIDED MONEY TO HIRE
MORE PEOPLE.
AND BRING THE TOTAL TO 14
COMPLIANCE INSPECTORS
FOR THE ENTIRE STATE. EIGHT
FIELD INVESTIGATORS.
YOU CAN WATCH OUR FIRST STORY,
IN WHICH WE DIVE DEEPER
INTO THE REGULATIONS FOR
COMPOUNDING
PHARMACIES.
COMPOUNDING PHARMACIES. IT'S LINKED WITH THIS STORY ON
OUR WEBSITE. KVUE DOT COM
SLASH DEFENDERS.
FOR THE KVUE DEFENDERS. ERICA
PROFFER.
KVUE NEWS.
KVUE NEWS. IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOU'D LIKE
THE KVUE DEFENDERS TO INVESTIGATE --
EMAIL US AT DEFENDERS AT
KVUE DOT COM OR CALL US AT THE
NUMBER ON YOUR SCREEN.