Boston: Pharmacy Error on Drug for HIV Alleged

A Boston pharmacist's error in dispensing 200 mg pills of Crixivan instead of 400 mg gave Adam Barrett's HIV the opening it required to develop a resistance to the powerful drug and a host of other AIDS medicines, Barrett alleges in a recently filed lawsuit against CVS Pharmacy Inc. As a result, the suit contends, Barrett may soon run out of treatment options. The company's initial response to the suit indicates it will argue that Barrett's virus might have developed drug resistance on its own. CVS would not admit or deny a pharmacy error, according to court documents.

Barrett's case is the first in Massachusetts to allege a pharmacy's mistake actually aided a lethal virus. Barrett, 40, tested HIV-positive in 1985. He began taking AZT in 1989. In 1993, Crixivan and 3TC joined his regimen, and within six months, his immune system was basically functioning like that of a disease-free man. Because he knew that any deviation from his pill-taking schedule could give the virus an edge, Barrett was fanatical about his 14-pill regimen. But in January 2000, the lymph nodes on his neck became tender. The next day, he discovered he had been taking half the prescribed dosage of Crixivan for three weeks. A blood test found 189,000 copies of HIV per milliliter of blood: "It hadn't been that high since before I started taking any medications," he said.

A genetic test revealed his HIV was resistant to Crixivan, AZT, 3TC and probably all protease inhibitors. The five-drug "salvage regimen" to which his doctor switched him will probably not possess the potency of the original combination. Nausea and fatigue forced Barrett, a nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, to reduce his work hours. His suit in Suffolk County Superior Court seeks $257,000, mostly in projected future lost wages.

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