Mistake in drug potency leaves 3 dead

PORTLAND — Three people in the Pacific Northwest have died after receiving a drug that was erroneously made 10 times more potent than intended, the Oregon State Medical Examiner's Office said Friday.

ApotheCure Inc., a drug-compounding pharmacy company in Texas, said an employee made a weighing error in the creation of the drug colchicine, which led to the deaths. Colchicine is commonly used to treat gout, but in these cases it was being given intravenously to treat back pain.

The drug was sent to the Center for Integrative Medicine in Portland, where three people received injections of the defective batch of the drug this spring.

All three people, two from Portland and one from Yakima, died between the end of March and the beginning of April from the toxic levels of the drug.

The defective doses were sent only to the Portland clinic, ApotheCure said.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it is investigating the case, but believes the problem is contained.

The Center for Integrative Medicine has since closed, and representatives from the organization could not be reached.

Colchicine works by stopping cells from dividing, which reduces inflammation in conditions such as gout, said Dr. Rob Hendrickson, associate medical director for the Oregon Poison Center. But in excess doses, the drug stops all cells from dividing — leading to organ failure and death.

The medication is not commonly used anymore, and use for back-pain treatment is less common than for gout.