If you or someone you know uses this drug, PLEASE READ!!!

I began using Depo-Provera in 1997. I was stationed in Key West, and was sent to the Navy Clinic for the shot. The doctor showed me the side effect sheet and explained that the worst thing that can happen to me is an irregular period, if I was to even have one at all. Over the next 9 years (yes 9 YEARS) I showed up to my nearest clinic every three months for my shot. Every time I was asked how long I had been taking it and if there were any side effects. No period for me and I've been on it for 'so-n-so' years. Not one hint of any problems did I see. Just a few months ago, chatting with a friend, they mention that someone they know, was not allowed to have "the shot" for more than a few years. Since I was due for my shot the next week, I made it a point to remember to ask about it. The same person that had been involved in one way or another with me getting my shot for the past 2 years, again asked me how long I have been on the shot. I replied with just over 9 years. She did not seem to notice. I questioned if this was a bad thing, and re-told my friends story. She seemed to remember that being on the drug for longer than a few years was a bad thing, and I might was to talk to the doctor. The next thing I know, everyone in concerned about my well being, and statements like "how could we have missed this" is flying about the clinic. Within a few hours I have off-base appointment with other doctors to review my case, and sure enough I have Osteoporosis. My bone loss is so bad that If I trip and fall down wrong, my hips will break. It appears (though a wavier is not processed yet) that I will no longer be able to fly, and my career is now in limbo. But I have to ask, why didn't my medical catch this? Not to mention that I was never given another side effect sheet on the drug in the years to follow the first one. In the research that I have done over the past few weeks I have found that the FDA has put a black label on this drug in 2004. How can the military still use this drug knowing the kind of side effects that it causes? I went and asked to see a side effect sheet, just to see if it was updated. It was, and it is some bad stuff! One of the first things on there is to not use this drug for more than 2 years. I have done my crying and ranting over my situation, now I want to make sure that something like this does not happen to anyone else. PLEASE if you are taking any kind of medication for any period of time, DO THE RESEARCH. You cannot expect your medical to let you know everything. If you are taking this drug, PLEASE, know how long you have been on it and stop it as soon as you get to the 2 year mark. As much as I want to tell you not to take this drug, it's not my choice, but at least understand what you are dealing with.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: avionica,

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PLEASE if you are taking any kind of medication for any period of time, DO THE RESEARCH. You cannot expect your medical to let you know everything. If you are taking this drug, PLEASE, know how long you have been on it and stop it as soon as you get to the 2 year mark. As much as I want to tell you not to take this drug, it's not my choice, but at least understand what you are dealing with.

Certainly, I'm sure most will join me in saying we hope there is someway to reverse what has been done...

You make a very good point in asking people to research their medications...In todays age, it is actually a very simple thing to do...The internet makes it easy to list all your medications to see if any may interact with each other...It can also tell you what long term effects you may have...

I myself have several types of doctors I see...If I see something they give me that may interact with something another doctor gives me, I not only ask but I research on the computer...

Good luck to you...

Gunk

Good luck Veronica, sending positive vibes that you do indeed get better.

What she and they said!!! B-I-G time!!!!

I trust NO ONE in the medical profession and essentially haven't since my Mother passed away in 1990 at one of Bostons "top shelf" hospitals basically because Doctors were too busy and rushing off to see the next patient(and submitting a bill)and the left hand didn't really know what the right was doing. And these were Doctors that all had been attending to her for years, not one of 'em stopped, stood back, and looked at the TOTAL picture.

She was gonna die anyways, but they didn't know specifically what was wrong with her till 3 days before she passed. And she had been in there for NINE Weeks!!!

I have ta go to the VA for my healthcare now, and the VA I go to is basically a big huge pharmacy surrounded by a mismanaged, poorly run medical facility where the Doctor writing yer script is a resident with little or no real world medical experience.

I take no medication until I've thoroughly researched it to the best of my ability online, and on more than one occasion I've been prescribed something that after I get home and look up I refuse to take.

I'm sure some medical professional will come on here and say "I'm a bad boy" because the Doctor (in theory) knows more about medicine than I do and I should do what they say and take what they prescribe, but hey(and as you've sadly learned), its YOUR body and they screw up and its YOU that suffers-JRC

Wow.

That is attrocious. I mean, I've never had much better than mediocre care from the Navy, ranging to mismanaged care bad enough to complain up the chain to Navy Region NE (avoid Groton if possible), but... wow. I can only guess how you must feel.

Just watching the personnel around their clinics (and some of our own CG clinics, unfortunately) it just seems there's something in the culture there that breeds complacency and disinterest in many of the HM/HS and MD staff. The attitudes often range from kids hanging out at a M-F day job, obivious to which sample is which, to people playing military in the Sea Cadets where the patients are an ancillary object in their training scenario. Thats not EVERYONE I saw, but too many to feel comfortable about getting a diagnosis or perscription right. When I hear another horror story like this it just reaffirms my decision to seek different sources of outside care whenever possible.

I give an exception to the Air Force, they were always the best health care I've ever had, civilian or military. Competant, thorough, genuinely caring... professional.

Veronica, what can I say. There isn't much that can be said which will help your situation, but thanks for passing on your experience. While you're ultimately right about digging deeper for yourself to get the facts, I would say you've been done some increadibly damaging disservice. The Navy were the ones to deliberately administer those drugs for all those years. If it were me and my health affected, I would definately make them feel uncomfortable from every direction, in every way that can hurt. The error will be quietly dismissed, otherwise, so don't let anyone intimidate or discourage you if you have the will.

Take care and best wishes.

KC

This message has been edited. Last edited by: KCboatz,

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I'm sure some medical professional will come on here and say "I'm a bad boy" because the Doctor (in theory) knows more about medicine than I do and I should do what they say and take what they prescribe, but hey(and as you've sadly learned), its YOUR body and they screw up and its YOU that suffers-JRC

Paschema, actually quite the opposite, at least as far as the trust the Dr. he knows what he's doing part. The average physician recieves 6 weeks of pharmacology(the study of medicine and how it works)over the course of 4 years of medical school. Now they do get a lot of OJT during their rotations, internships, and residencies, but BELIEVE ME, that is no substitute for going straight to the source and the professional for pharmaceutical information.....your pharmacist. Good luck with your situation Veronica, I suspect when you see a physician regarding your new diagnosis of osteoporosis the first thing they will do is throw you a script for a drug such as crestor(which prevents demineralization of bone), which you will probably be on for the rest of your life, you may want to do a little more research than you did the last time. Has your physician had you in for a bone density scan yet -Jeff

The first thing they did to me was a bone density scan, to discover the Osteoporosis. I just found out yesterday that they are going to continue with a med board, which raises so many more question about my situation. To top is off I now have to have more test run to see if having kids is even a possibility for me now.

Since this was mostly medical's falt, will the system even be held accountable for this?

Is there any chance to make a deal with a med board to stay in for the next 10 years so I can at least retire? (I'll go teach 'A' or 'C' school for a few years, maybe recruiting after that.)

If it is reversable over the next few years, why even bother is a board?

How can I make them pay for ruining my 30 year career? (My mom getting a lawyer is already going to happen.)

Bump this sucker and make it a sticky!

Veronica, I wish I had words to convey my sorrow at your circumstances.

I wish you the very best.

--Joe..

if they kick you out, the only thing i can see happening is getting a full 100% coverage from the VA for the stuff they did to you in the military. Which whatever paygrade you are at now, they should give you full liability. Also, you will be able to sue the military for some sort of wrong medical practice. And also, being able to collect money for ruining your career as well as damages of you not being able to have babies. Which I hope there is something they will be able to do for you. I hope everything works out for you.

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Originally posted by 9067857:
if they kick you out, the only thing i can see happening is getting a full 100% coverage from the VA for the stuff they did to you in the military. Which whatever paygrade you are at now, they should give you full liability. Also, you will be able to sue the military for some sort of wrong medical practice. And also, being able to collect money for ruining your career as well as damages of you not being able to have babies. Which I hope there is something they will be able to do for you. I hope everything works out for you.

HA, spoken like someone who has no idea what they're talking about! What do you base this statment of yours on? -Jeff

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if they kick you out, the only thing i can see happening is getting......

It's easy to give false information out when you are 100% anon. Trust me when I say that MLC is all over this and the issue has been handled. I am unable to disclose further information other than there are three sides to every story...yours, mine, and the truth.

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there are three sides to every story...yours, mine, and the truth.

HS1, If you are trying to say that the story was in some way exaggerated, please come out and say how. There are a lot of females that use depo and by reading the story could become a bit panicked. A true account would be best for all, otherwise the whole thread needs to be removed.

I found out about the bone density issues after 3, almost 4 years of Depo usage. I was told about 2 1/2 years ago by an HS2. As long as I've been stationed here nothing has been sent out about it. Not an email, not message traffic, nothing. She said "Oh, you should really think about not using it... they found out that it promotes bone loss". So I did some of my own research and lo and behold, was true.

MLC's all over it huh? I can see how much they are looking out for the members by forewarning and front loading us.

There are certain patient rights that I refuse to violate on a message board. I said to trust me and if you can't, then just leave it alone. There are three sides to every story. I am not saying that what was brought up was a lie by any means. Just that when faced with news and often when reaching out, some facts get missed. Also, this is a condition that; with time and suppliments, will / should resolve it'self. A med board does not mean that someone is getting discharged. Also, I pushed for this entire topic to be removed when it was first posted. It is information that should not be made public.

SKRUNCH: I wasn't asking you to violate anyone's rights. I was asking for clarification because those are some serious accusations that could cause a lot of females to freak out. In general, I feel the topic should also be removed. BUT, that said, JekelKat is right in the aspect that the CG hasn't done anything about informing the females that take Depo that there is an issue with it.

Patient rights? Isn't it a patients right to know about ALL the side effect of a particular drug?

I will try to clarify this and follow it up with an excerpt from our quality insurance manual. If you still have questions, call me..I am in global.

This is something that has been known for only 3 years. Initially, all CG providers and CG pharmacies were notified of the situation. However, there is always the gap to health care in the civilian sector that we can't monitor without patient input. That being said, there are bound to be females out there that are been seen and treated by civilians that either don't know or don't care or just don't bother to look into the details of their patients cases. Also, there are bound to be multiple instances of non documentation. Meaning that the information from the civilian record never makes it into the members CG health record. Depo is a medicine and as such when it is recieved from the pharmacy, it comes with both a package insert and a print out from the computer that has drug usage and side effect information printed in black and white.

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Appendix 10
Quality Improvement Study Report Form
Solution to be reviewed in: month(s) on:
In 2004, Pfizer released clinical data from postmarketing studies of their product Depo-Provera that indicates this medication may be associated with significant and possibly
irreversible loss of bone mineral density (BMD) in patients utilizing this medication. The FDA subsequently added a "black box" warning to the package insert for Depo-Provera
warning of this adverse event and recommends this product should be used as a long-term birth control method (eg, longer than 2 years) only if other birth control methods are
inadequate. Additionally, the manufacturer now recommends BMD evaluation and possible calcium/vitamin D supplementation in patients continuing long-term use of this
medication. It appears that many health care professionals may still be unaware of this newly published adverse event associated with the long term use of Depo-Provera .
There are reports of patients prescribed Depo-Provera for long-term birth control who are not evaluated in accordance with the new
FDA "black box" warning and revised manufacturer's package insert recommendations/considerations. FDA Reference Link: http://
www.fda.gov/medwatch/SAFETY/2004/safety04.htm#Depo
All female patients receiving Depo-Provera should be evaluated utilizing the revised recommendations/considerations in the manufacturer's package insert for this medication.
Identify female patients who may be at risk for experiencing calcium/bone loss with Depo-Provera and adjust therapy accordingly.
Identify Female Patients receiving Depo-Provera
(Run CHCS DUR)
Perform Medical Record/Prescription Review on Identified Female Patients
(To estimate the significance of the Problem)
Develop Tools (aka Solutions) to solve the Problem
(ex- Educational, Procedural, etc.)
Implement Tools (aka Solutions)
Repeat Medical Records/Prescriptions Review to evaluate the Solutions
Continue present Solutions or develop new Solutions until Problem is satisfactorily resolved

Thanks for the info, that is exactly the things that women need to know. There are many people that take medications without question because it has been FDA approved and given to them by a professional. I am not one of them! It seems all to common to see tv commercials for warnings or lawsuites on medications that have been around for a few years and only now are the serious side effects being discovered. How long is a medication studied before being unleashed on the trusting public?

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Originally posted by Skrunch:
I will try to clarify this and follow it up with an excerpt from our quality insurance manual. If you still have questions, call me..I am in global.
This is something that has been known for only 3 years.

quote:

Appendix 10
Quality Improvement Study Report Form
Solution to be reviewed in: month(s) on:
In 2004, Pfizer released clinical data from postmarketing studies of their product Depo-Provera that indicates this medication may be associated with significant and possibly
irreversible loss of bone mineral density (BMD) in patients utilizing this medication. resolved

OK - so I've chosen to reply to a few specific sentences.

Excerpt from your Quality Insurance Manual. Ooooh THAT manual. Gosh I must have over looked that part.

2004. The study was done 3 years ago and you write ONLY 3 years? That's 3 years that females could have been informed on a NOT JUST INDIVIDUAL BASIS. There could have been something sent out about it. I get frickin emails from medical telling me that they are spraying for West Nile but not that Depo may cause irreversible bone loss? That's a joke.

Edit for comment: HS1 - Don't get me wrong, I'm not attacking YOU as a person. Just the system.

Well, people were supposed to be informed after the "black box warning" was issued. Again, we have no regulation over civilian providers. I was not in a posistion then to say if it was done or not. Hopefully, clinics are doing something about it now. Oh, and the manual is just in a clinic and is nothing but a collection of check lists to maintain quality insurance...rather hard to explain.