The St. Paul Blues, Minnesota Wild and St. Charles Blues are all trying to get their hands on an antibiotic used in a medically unnecessary treatment of parathyrolid disease, the Minnesota Health Department said Thursday.
In a letter to the owners of St. Joseph’s Hospital and the St. Peter Medical Center, the department said St. Joe’s Hospital is in the process of acquiring a prescription for a medication that has been found to be harmful to patients and the community.
“In light of recent events involving the use of a medically unneeded antibiotic, St Joseph’s has decided to discontinue its use of the drug,” the letter said.
“The St. Francis Hospital Medical Center is also in the midst of a clinical trial of a new antibiotic, and will evaluate the results of that study in the coming days.”
The St Peter Medical Centers is in a clinical trials for a new drug and the results from that study are not yet available to the public.
“If the results are positive, we will be able to notify the public as soon as possible.”
The antibiotic, called parathyroxine, is used in more than 200 different medications, including the antibiotic azithromycin and others.
St. Francis Medical Center has no plans to discontinage the drug, spokeswoman Julie Auerbach said Thursday, and the hospital does not plan to sell the drug or discontinue parathyrozoids, she said.
The letter said the medical center will not have any additional information at this time.
“St. Peter is in its own clinical trial and will determine the final outcome of that trial,” Auerbert said.
St Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said he has been in contact with the hospital, which is owned by the hospital and operated by a private corporation, and said the club has been working with the city to help get the medication.
“I think it’s very disappointing to have it in the hands of an organization that’s not in the business of helping the community, it’s not helping the health of patients,” Armstrong said Thursday on a conference call.
The city has not released the name of the company that is developing the antibiotic, but the city has said it has an agreement with St. Mary’s Medical Center to help the city with its medical supply.
Armstrong said the city will be working with St Mary’s and the pharmaceutical company to determine if they will be purchasing the medication, but it has not been finalized.
St Charles said it was not aware of any previous complaints about the drug.
“We are aware of no such incidents at this point, and we will continue to work with St Josephs as we have in the past, including seeking the assistance of the city and city agencies in any way necessary,” a St. Michael’s Hospital spokesman said in a statement.