|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
UK: Cannabis medication 'turned my mum into a stranger'
Olga Craig The Sunday Telegraph
Sunday 18 Dec 2005 A grandmother who died after being given a controversial and experimental cannabis-based medicine had told her family that she thought the drug was driving her mad. Rene Anderson, 69, became so paranoid after taking Sativex as part of a drug trial that she believed her family and doctors were trying to kill her. Just three weeks after beginning the trial for the drug, which is not licensed in Britain, she told her daughter, Jacqui Sadler: "I know this drug is making me stupid. I think it is driving me mad." Last night Mrs Sadler, 42, said: "It was heartbreaking to see my lovely, caring mother turn into a stranger who laughed uncontrollably, recited nursery rhymes and thought at times we were trying to kill her. "In my opinion, Sativex contributed to my mother's death and robbed her of her future with her family. I want to see the trial halted and I never, ever, want to see this drug licensed in this country." Mrs Anderson, from Sheffield, had diabetes and was put on the trial, funded by Diabetes UK, at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, where she was an outpatient in September 2003. She suffered extreme pain in her hands and feet caused by diabetes neuropathy and it was thought the drug, developed by the British company GW Pharmaceuticals, might alleviate her condition. But from her first dose, her husband Donald and daughter noticed a marked change in her demeanour. Although her dosage was reduced within three days, the trial continued and Mrs Anderson, a grandmother of four, became disoriented, agitated and paranoid. "It was as though my mother were intoxicated all the time," Mrs Sadler said. "She thought there were drugs planted in the house and that we were under surveillance by police helicopters. She would scream at times; at other times she would weep for hours." Mrs Anderson was admitted to the Royal Hallamshire a month after starting the trial. She developed pneumonia and suffered a heart attack and respiratory problems, before dying of acute kidney failure on March 3, 2004 - a year before she would have celebrated her golden wedding anniversary. Last week, at an inquest into her death, the coroner ruled that a reaction to the treatment was a "significant contributory factor" in the development of the illness that killed her. Mrs Anderson's death will again raise questions over the effectiveness of Sativex - the first cannabis-derived medication - which has been licensed in Canada but is subject to further tests in Britain. It will also highlight concerns in the medical world over the impact of the Government's reclassification of the raw drug. This week there has been speculation that the Government will reverse its decision to downgrade cannabis to a Class C substance, in response to increasing medical evidence linking the drug to psychosis and schizophrenia. Explaining why her mother had started taking the drug, Mrs Sadler said: "Though she rarely complained of her neuropathy pain, my mother once told me it was like having boiling water poured on her hands and feet. "When she told me she was going on the trial I was concerned, but she just said, 'I'm on that thing the young ones take.' But she definitely thought she would be doing some good, helping with research. "I felt she was being used as a guinea pig. It was almost as if we were watching Mum revert to childhood. While in hospital, she was assessed by a psychiatrist, who told us she had seen these symptoms before in young people who smoked a lot of cannabis. "GW Pharmaceuticals has made millions from this drug. But we never want another family to see a loved one go through what Mum did. "Her greatest wish was to see her grandchildren married. She has been robbed of that. She should have been with us for a long time, but she has been taken from us. People should be warned of this drug's dangers." A spokesman for GW Pharmaceuticals said: "This was a unique case. Whatever the sad cause of Mrs Anderson's death, it does not mean that Sativex is dangerous for patients, even if it may have been one of several factors to have caused Mrs Anderson's initial confusion."
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!