Copyright People’s Pharmacy

Q: My healthy husband went for a physical because he was going to retire. They found he had an irregular heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation and put him on amiodarone.  Within a few months, he could not function and went in for a cardioversion. They said he was not getting enough oxygen, and he was admitted to intensive care for three weeks.  There, they diagnosed him with lung poisoning from the drug.  He was intubated, and he never woke up.  My beloved husband died, and I deeply regret watching him take that drug each day.

A: Your story is tragic and should never have happened.  Amiodarone has not been approved for treating atrial fibrillation.  The Food and Drug Administration has made it clear that this drug should only be prescribed for life-threatening heart rhythm abnormalities such as recurrent ventricular fibrillation.  Amiodarone can cause serious lung toxicity.  It can also harm the liver and the thyroid gland.  In short, this drug should be reserved for situations when other treatments have failed.