Friday, October 03, 2008 ‘Wrong drug’ kills pregnant girl
A PREGNANT 18-year-old woman died after taking a drug a mananabang (native medicine woman), a relative, gave her. The drug reportedly resulted to difficulty in breathing and severe vomiting.
Four days after Jessa Mae Aton died last Sept. 26, her husband Elvis, 19, from Mar Beach, Barangay Marigondon, Lapu-Lapu City, reported the incident to the police.
Emergency
At around 10 p.m., Jessa Mae, who was eight months pregnant, was brought to the Don Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City after throwing up several times.
Her relatives suspected it had something to do with the tablets she took in the morning.
Elvis said that they consulted a relative regarding his wife’s pregnancy. There, she was made to drink two tablets of Oxytocic Methergin.
According to Dr. Rodulfo Berame of the Lapu-Lapu City Health Department, the drug is given to women after delivery. This is also taken to facilitate the inducement of the placenta and to help prevent bleeding after delivery.
Unfit
However, Berame is questioning on why Jessa Mae was made to take the drug when she was yet eight months pregnant.
He suspects that Berame died of placental embolism most especially that Jessa Mae was only 18 years old and was at high risk.
Placental embolism means the presence of clots in the blood vessels.
As of press time, Jessa Mae’s relatives have not decided yet on whether they will file a case against the relative or not.
The relative who made Jessa Mae take the tablets could not be reached after the incident. (FVQ of SuperBalita)
