(Mayo Clinic) 40-year-old woman w/MS dies of cardiac arrest after injecting glatiramer

Glatiramer acetate (Copaxone) users are familiar with the IPIR (immediate post-injection reaction) that some people have shortly after injecting this drug. I myself had a very negligible such reaction once. It has often been described, and years ago I had a discussion about it with someone at Shared Solutions, the Copaxone support system. The person I spoke with was probably a nurse or at least someone knowledgeable about the drug. When I asked if the IPIR was an allergic reaction, she said it wasn't but it was "like" an allergic reaction. I got the impression (or maybe was actually told) that nobody really knew much about what triggers this reaction. People are always told that it is harmless and almost always passes in less than half an hour--all you need to do is wait it out.


But it sounds as if this woman may have had one of the dreaded IPIRs--and it was fatal.


This sad fatality happened over two years ago.

From Mayo News (June 18, 2024)--"Family of woman call for more vigilance into MS drug":

This report from Mayo Clinic contains a few more details about the case of the woman with MS who died of anaphylactic shock, apparently related to the Copaxone she had been injecting.


From MayoLive (August 21, 2024)--"HPRA Acts on Mayo Coroner's Recommendation to Monitor MS Drug":





According to Wikipedia, the HPRA regulates medicines in Ireland:

The Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) is an Irish regulatory agency. It advises the Irish government. It is responsible for both public and animal health. It regulates medicines, medical devices, clinical trials and other health products and monitors the safety of cosmetics.