Monday, April 15, 1996
By Tiffany McElroy
Daily Bruin Contributor
For one year, Vicki Harrop helplessly watched her once strong
and passionate husband crumble physically, mentally and emotionally
because of the drugs he received to treat his cancer.
Former UC Santa Barbara Professor John Harrop was drugged to
treat his pain 24 hours a day, yet he insisted on performing many
everyday tasks such as going to the bank and paying his bills.
Sadly, there were times when he could not remember where he parked
his car, nor could he remember if he had paid his bills.
Finally, in June 1995, after he saw Dr. Joshua Prager, director
of the UCLA Pain Medicine Center, Harrop’s pain subsided and he got
his life back.
There, he received a surgically implanted pain pump, known as
the Patient Activated Reservoir.
This inexpensive device administers pain relief to cancer
patients by using drug doses one-three-hundredth of the amount
required when taken orally.
"We get the same pain relief or better, and we greatly reduce or
even eliminate negative side effects by using only
one-three-hundredth of the usual oral dose," said Prager, of UCLA’s
Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The medicine is delivered through the pump when pressure is
applied by the patient and goes directly to the spinal fluid.
Because the medication goes directly to the spinal fluid, the doses
administered are substantially smaller than standard oral
painkillers.
"The receptors for where the pain information enters into the
nervous system comes in at the spinal cord by putting small amounts
of narcotics right into the spinal fluid. (Therefore), the patient
does not have to take so much medication," Prager explained. "The
device has built in safeguards to prevent over medicating."
Administering medication through the pump also helps to
eliminate many side effects associated with oral painkillers.
"Effective pain management can improve the quality of life of
patients with cancer," said Dr. Russell Portenoy, director of
analgesic studies at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New
York.
Prager is seeking cancer patients suffering with pain to
participate in a national clinical trial of the pump. The device
used by Prager is a surgically implanted pain medication pump about
21Ž2 inches long. It is surgically inserted under the skin in
the abdominal and lower rib cage area, and is operated manually by
the patient.
"The great thing about this device is that we can provide people
pain relief with better mental functioning," Prager added. "When
you can give someone pain relief and have them be themselves again
so that they can spend the last days of their lives comfortable and
alert is a real ‘mitzvah’ (blessing)."
Patients who participate in the trial will be given a Patient
Activated Reservoir and undergo surgery at no charge. After the
device becomes FDA-approved and commercially available, it is
expected to replace the more complex and costly pump in certain
situations.
"After the implantation of the pain pump in my husband, it did
not, nor was it expected to save his life from cancer," said
Harrop. "Sadly, he passed away on Sept. 9, 1995, but the pump
definitely restored his life while he was alive and allowed us to
experience our life to the fullest possible extent for two glorious
months.
"For any family fighting cancer, weeks and even days of quality
life are precious, they are your right, and with the pump, they are
definitely available," she added.
To participate in the clinical study, call the UCLA Pain
Medicine Center at (310) 825-2724