Woman dies, 13 patients fall sick after having intravenous drips at Mie hospital

Wednesday 11th June, 12:46 PM JST

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wanderlust at 08:44 AM JST - 11th June

Neurotropin - aka NTP - which one? 1, 2, 3, 4?

Neurotropin, an extract from the inflamed skin of vaccinia virus-inoculated rabbits, has been observed clinically to be effective for treating pain in patients with lumbago, SMON and other neuropathies, chronic fatigue syndrome, it's even an ingredient in some ED tablets!

They still do not know it's mechanism of action, it's not exactly mainstream medicine, and is hardly used outside of Japan.

Strong smell of quack medicine here....
Notginger at 08:55 AM JST - 11th June

Dirty needles?
tkoind2 at 09:16 AM JST - 11th June

Sounds like a bad batch, poison or very bad medical care. Will be interesting to see what the police come up with.
Pivot at 11:16 AM JST - 11th June

Wanderlust, while you might be entirely correct about neurotropin, I think the politics of pharmaceutical companies has ALOT to do with what drugs are being used and what aren't. The mechanism of many many drugs in use are still unknown, but used in mainstream medicine.

Back to the topic, it's a really sad way to die, especially in a developed country.
Reigaaru at 11:34 AM JST - 11th June

Is anything to be done regarding the medicine? Are they at least putting a hold on it until they can be sure it wasn't the meds or a bad batch of needles?
capone at 11:47 AM JST - 11th June

pivot: what does japan have to do with a developed country ? the medical "profession" is stuck in the 1800s
capone at 12:33 PM JST - 11th June

the govt needs to close hospitals faster, so that more people might live
keshii at 04:19 PM JST - 11th June

Capone's right to use those quotation marks. Only in Japan have I seen a person walk into a "hospital" and get a full-body massage... as part of the treatment for a wrist injury.
timorborder at 12:25 AM JST - 12th June

This sounds like an infection of some sort. Notginger picked up dirty needles, considering Japan's recent history with blood sugar checking equipment (cross usage among patients of products that were supposed to be used for one patient only), and cases of blood sample syringes being reused, I would not be surprised if this case is blood related. At the same time, another issue might be the storage of the medications, are these things heat/cold sensitive? With regard to a manufacturing issue, if there was a problem, I think it would be more widespread given the volumes in which pharmaceuticals are produced.
8iamhappy8 at 02:20 PM JST - 12th June

Guys, look at the signs: "fever and vomiting". Clearly a biological infectious agent. Maybe one of those multi-drug resistant staph areus, streptococci, or pseudomonas species...
cleo at 02:35 PM JST - 12th June

The head of the hospital was interviewed on telly last night, he admitted that at least one nurse had been making the stuff up in batches for use later, although it's supposed to be made up fresh every time. He said he 'hadn't been aware' of what she was doing, and the news announcer lambasted him for trying to pass the buck.

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200806110281.html

This morning it was reported from the hospital where the affected people are being cared for that bacteria had been found in at least one patient. I think they called it グラム菌(gram kin), but I'm not sure what that would be in English.
8iamhappy8 at 02:51 PM JST - 12th June

"I think they called it グラム菌(gram kin)"

They may be referring to a certain Gram-staining, or non-Gram-staining bacteria. Shrugs shoulder
Nessie at 05:05 PM JST - 12th June

The head of the hospital was interviewed on telly last night, he admitted that at least one nurse had been making the stuff up in batches for use later

This is why I don't want IVs. Hospital leftoevers are bad enough to eat, but to get them intraveneously. Yuck.
Nessie at 05:31 PM JST - 12th June

If there's one thing Japan's IV-happy hospitals should be able to get right it's hanging a friggin' drip.
mikihouse at 05:35 PM JST - 13th June

somebody died a year ago after having an IV in the same hospital. They never performed an autopsy to determine the cause of death, they just said it was because of old age. Anyway, gram kin refers to the bacterial contamination of the IV. It means that the hands or place where the medicine were prepared was not clean and allowed the bacteria to proliferate and produce toxins.