I receive quite a number of forwarded emails, with stories (and
sometimes pictures) attached, followed by "Don't take this!" or
"Don't go there!"; "Beware of this, that, and the other!"
While some of them may be true, some are just hoaxes (like
emails giving info on false computer viruses)
Let's start a thread on the type of emails we've received, and
point each other to the right direction on whether it's a hoax, or
is what we received really factual!
I'll start the ball rolling; got this in an email today:
-----
Hi Everyone
I am passing this email forwarded to me this morning. It's about a
medication that is familiar to many of us. I received this
information from a friend whose mother recently passed away.
Apparently, this was caused by a medication that is deadly. Here
are the details and I suggest you pass it on to your loved ones and
others.
Subject: Phenylpropanolamine
(PPA)
I would like to thank those of
you who expressed condolences on the recent passing of my mother.
She suffered a hemorrhagic stroke while she was driving home from
my house on 7/30 and passed away on 8/3. My mother's stroke and
passing was an enormous shock to my family because she
did
not have any symptoms or risk factors for a stroke.
Just the week before she had gone to her doctor for a check up and
received a clean bill of health. She did, however, develop a cold
not while she was visiting me and had taken Alka Seltzer Cold Plus
for 3 days. Since her passing, we have learned that Alka
Seltzer is one of the many cold medicines that contains
Phenylpropanolamine (PPA) which can cause hemorrhagic stokes or
cerebral bleeding even
with the first use. I am forwarding a list of other medications
that currently use PPA. These medicines are supposedly being
recalled but my mother just purchased this medication less than two
weeks ago. Pharmaceutical companies have known about this danger
for years, we unfortunately, did
not.