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Thanks Mary Ann At 10:35 AM 2/2/2004 -0500, you wrote: >Last night I took care of a demented, aggitated Parkinson's patient. He >tried to hit me a number of times - thankfully, his aim was terrible >(naturally). A psychiatrist I knew had been called in on his case to >address his combative behavior. We were discussing the medication options >available when the psychiatrist told me that his first preference was >Haldol. I quickly reminded him that Haldol was contraindicated in PD - and >shouldn't be considered for this patient. Thankfully, this psychiatrist was >one of the 'good guys' who quickly realized his error. > >Another PD patient of mine had been admitted to the hospital this weekend >because he had fallen and remained on the floor for six hours before he was >found. Apparently, he had been falling quite often over the past two weeks. >He had responded well to treatment and was heading for the rehab unit. >After assessing him, I asked if he needed anything - he told me that he >wanted cough syrup for his cough. I related that his attending physician >would have to order it because some cough syrups were contraindicated in PD. >His wife responded that he had been taking quite a bit of cough syrup over >the past two weeks - just about the time he had started to fall. > >Last night she returned to our unit just to tell me that she had read the >cough medicine instructions which clearly stated that PD sufferers shouldn't >take the medication. > >The moral of the story is - be aware of contraindicated PD drugs, remember >that not all doctors are familiar with what they are and *read all >over-the-counter medication labels.* >------------- >God bless >Mary Ann (CG Jamie 64/24) > >---------------------------------------------------------------------- >To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] >In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn