Woman struggles after medicine makes her sick
By Nadia Arandjelovic
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Pearl Caines sits at her table with all of her documentation. Pearl Caines was given medicine she was allergic to, and it caused her hands and feet to crack, bleed etc. She has spent seven years trying to get money back from Insurance Company
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Photo: Mark Tatem
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Seven years ago Pearl Caines stopped into a doctors office (at King Edward Memorial Hospital) to get treatment for a nail fungus under her thumb and finger.
She walked out with a prescription for Lamisil, a drug that caused an adverse reaction in her system and caused the soles of her feet and hands to swell up, crack and bleed.
Since then she has found it painful to walk and completely unable to work.
"At its worse if I stood on my feet I had terrible pain and if I walked in my socks I used to leave a blood trail going to the bathroom," she said.
"I used to have beautiful feet, I had sandal feet."
Back in 2001, Mrs. Caines sought help on the Island. She was given medicine for her hands and feet but to no avail; she then went to two local dermatologists but that didn't remedy the situation either.
Finally with the help of her family and friends, she gathered up enough money to go see a doctor overseas, Jason Manuel in Florida.
Mrs. Caines, 69, told The Royal Gazette: "The (instruction) paper tells you on the Lamisil that you have to give the client a blood test. (The local doctor) didn't do that he just gave me the medication.
"And I only took it for three days. Dr. Manuel says I am lucky I didn't take it any more because it probably would have killed me."
"He said I should have came to him right from the beginning but it took two years just to get the money together to go out there just to see a doctor.
She continued: "He says it could be allergic contact and he says if it's not hereditary than it has to be an allergic reaction to the medicine."
"And we don't have that in my family."
After seeking proper treatment abroad, Mrs. Caines was able to walk "without excruciation pain", but only able to use her hands to "some degree".
Still, the most trying part of the experience has been the financial side of things as she continues to battle the insurance company to make up for the medical costs.
Mrs. Caines who worked as a light house-keeper for the Southampton Princess for close to 29-years had to be put on sick leave, but unfortunately her condition used up all that leave and she had to be replaced.
The Southampton resident wrote to the insurance company and their lawyers, Cox, Hallett and Wilkinson, by saying: "I do not want to be a victim of bad administration, my case needs immediate attention."
But even today, she has not been reimbursed for the medical mistake.
The lawyer who was originally looking into the matter on her behalf was fired sometime this year, she told The Royal Gazette. The firm then wrote to her saying they didn't think the claim would succeed at trial.
"(My lawyer) keeps saying we don't have enough' and I keep saying 'what are you talking about, why do you keep saying we don't have enough when we have all this information here."
Overall Mrs. Caines says her condition has greatly improved in the past months, but she is still waiting for compensation.
"I can walk now, I can walk very well. My feet are doing really well, the only time they crack is when it gets cold. If I keep the stuff on them they will stay soft but it's down to just a few layers of skin.
"But I can't always afford it. I try the best I can, but I do fall behind."
