Cipro Use During Anthrax Attacks Left One Man Disabled
John Angell, who was working on Capitol Hill as staff director for Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.) when the 2001 anthrax attacks occurred, recently talked about his Cipro injuries with The Wall Street Journal.
Like hundreds of other people, Angell took a course of Cipro to prevent infection. A few days later, he felt pain in both his Achilles tendons. A week after that, the pain had grown so bad that he talked to a doctor, who switched him to another antibiotic. Unfortunately, the drug switch came too late.
Angell’s Cipro injury was so bad, that he became all but immobile for a time. He had to undergo rehab, and missed a great deal of work. He had to give up his staff director position, and now holds a much less senior job. Even today, Angell still walks with a cane and can’t hike or play tennis the way he used to.
Many patient advocates have argued that Cipro was overused during the anthrax scare in people like Angell, who did not actually develop an infection.
