SENIOR ADVOCATES FDA CHANGE.

Byline: BETTIE RENCORET SENIOR COLUMNIST

QUARTZ HILL -- Mayflower Gardens resident Marvin Moskowitz is a man with a mission.

He's working to get a law passed to require all medical practitioners to report any serious patient allergic reaction to any prescription drug to the Food and Drug Administration.

As the situation stands, reporting such events is voluntary, and he's not happy with that. He wants voluntary changed to mandatory, under penalty of law.

Moskowitz, a Brooklyn native who holds a bachelor of science degree and a teaching credential from California State University, Northridge, and who has been blind since age 45, discovered the problem after using the drug Prilosec, used to treat heartburn and acid reflux disease.

``Tissue developed under my breasts and I had no one to help me with the $9,000 medical bills I incurred,'' he said.

As far as he could tell, the tissue buildup was an unknown event to the FDA, which has no authority over health care providers -- but does have the responsibility to control drug manufacturers.

``I don't want that to happen to anyone else, but I'm not getting anywhere,'' Moskowitz said. ``Government officials and politicians who could don't seem to want to do anything about it. I may be blind but I recognize a political runaround when I get one.''

Moskowitz's efforts resulted in the introduction last year in Sacramento of Senate Bill 380, authored by state Sen. Elaine K. Alquist, D-San Jose. It failed to be enacted.

SB380 would have required licensed health professionals and health facilities in California to report all suspected serious adverse drug events that are spontaneously discovered or observed in medical practice to MedWatch, the drug safety information and adverse event reporting program operated by the FDA.

Moskowitz says the bill may be reintroduced this year, but he holds out little hope that it will survive.

Mandatory reporting of problems would give the FDA the advantage of a heads-up on medications that should be removed from the market before more damage is done, he said.

``Only one out 10 doctors are reporting serious allergic affects to the FDA now. Remember, their reports are voluntary. That's a pretty low percentage. The FDA doesn't get the data they need to do anything about it,'' he said. ``They should at least get enough information so they can run more clinical trials to determine if a drug should be taken off the market.''

Moskowitz doesn't mind telling you he's ticked.

``Right now, I'm really angry because the general public -- that's you, me, all my fellow citizens -- are guinea pigs. We're at risk. This is a moral issue with me. At 78 and blind, there's no money in this for me, there's no medal. It's just the idea that I cannot walk away and turn my back on my own fellow citizens, relatives and friends.''

Moskowitz won't give up. He continues to write letters to officials on his Braille typewriter that a friend edits and retypes on a conventional typewriter.

``For the last three years, I've done nothing but fight this problem. All I want is some help to get protection for all of us against prescription drug after-effects that could kill or maim us. I don't think that's too much to ask.''

Menus for the week at the senior life nutrition sites in Lancaster and Palmdale have been announced. All meals include bread, margarine and coffee, tea or milk, for a suggested donation of $2.

Monday: Macaroni and cheese, peas and carrots, coleslaw, peaches.

Tuesday: Chicken divan, noodles, stewed tomatoes, tossed salad, apple.

Wednesday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, spinach, marinated salad, cake.

Thursday: Cranberry chicken, rice pilaf, green beans, tossed salad, banana.

Friday: Pork chop, bread dressing, winter squash, caesar salad, ice cream.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Senior Marvin Moskowitz is pushing for legislation that would require doctors to report adverse effects, like allergic reactions, to medications to the Food and Drug Administration.

Bettie Rencoret/Special to the Daily News