435 – Doomwatch – No Room for Error

Drug-resistant typhoid is on the prowl in the UK, but fear not!  Doomwatch is watching. Simon and Eugene discuss “No Room for Error” Episode Synopsis:  In an isolation ward, a young woman lies stricken with typhoid.  The prognosis is grim:  This and several other cases appear to be a new, drug-resistent strain of the highly-infectious disease.  Nothing in the arsenal of wonder drugs has any effect on it. [expand title=”More…” swaptitle=”Less” tag=”strong”] British Associated Pharmaceuticals (or BAP) has a potential new wonder drug, Stellamycin, but its approval for use is being held up by the bureaucratic red tape of Doomwatch. By the absolute wildest of coincidences, Quist has just made a job offer to a potential new member of the Doomwatch team, Dr. Fay Chantry.  She has excellent qualifications, both a research scientist and a medical doctor, but she’s not sure she can commit to the job, for a variety of reasons.  Amongst other things, she doesn’t want to impede scientific progress, which she perceives Doomwatch may be doing.  Quist assures her that isn’t so, but she has other reservations. Quist understands her hesitancy, she is, after all, a woman, and they don’t have the same priorities as men, and process decisions differently – emotionally instead of logically, even.  He seems to try to convince her that, if she works for Doomwatch, there’ll be no sex for her. I might be misinterpreting that conversation. Oh, and the wild coincidence I mentioned?  Dr. Chantry did her research science at BAP, developing Stellamycin, and during her strange conversation with Dr. Quist, the head of BAP, professor Lewin, calls her in Quist’s office and tells her about the typhoid outbreak and that Doomwatch is holding up approval of their wonder drug. See?  Dr Quist, you’re impeding scientific progress and life-saving drugs. “No, we’re not,” says Quist, “we gave our approving report to the ministry six weeks ago.  They haven’t acted on it.  I’ll get onto the Minister right now and see what’s the hold up.” Even though she’s not yet on the staff, Quist sends Chantry to BAP to get the wheels greased for immediate distribution once he gets it cleared by the Minister. Professor Lewin at BAP wants Chantry back in the worst possible way, and pulls out all the stops to try to re-recruit her.  She’s been gone for a few years, having left after an incident involving (and being involved with) another scientist at BAP, Nigel, and things haven’t changed. Lewin isn’t so sure, and asks Nigel to show her around. Wink Wink. Doomwatch’s report of Stellamycin has some contraindications, but Quist gives his personal recommendation to the hesitant Minister that, in a limited capacity, for the purposes of treating this typhoid outbreak only, Stellamycin appears safe and effective. Back at BAP, Nigel drops the bombshell to Fay:  I’m divorced!  There’s nothing standing between us now!  Come back to me, Fay! Let’s go to the pub and talk about it.” Stellamycin is provisionally approved and treatment begins. Professor Lewin allows Nigel to offer Fay a job, but, he says, “…it’ll only be for a year or two before she quits.  You two will get married, you’ll be together day and night, that won’t be good, then she’ll want to stay home and take care of the house and babies, but, that’s fine.” Unfortunately, one of the typhoid patients who was almost dead is now completely dead, after adverse reactions to Stellamycin.  A couple more patients are showing similar reactions.  The hospital administrator  stops use of Stellamycin just as Nigel’s daughter contracts typhoid and is admitted Doomwatch forms a provisional hypothesis:  One of the contraindications was that Stellamycin should not be given in prophylactic doses.  If those patients who had adverse reactions had previously been treated with small doses of Stellamycin, this would be consistent with their symptoms, but since Stellamycin wasn’t on the market, that wouldn’t be impossible, right?  Unless there was a breach in protocol. Nigel thinks it’s utter tommyrot and scoffs at the idea!  He convinces Fay to administer Stellamycin to his daughter. Ridge tracks it down to a single school – the school near BAP – and the school Nigel’s daughter attends.  A test of everything at the school finds nothing, but perhaps the milk furnished to the school had previously been contaminated?  That farm had been a feed test farm for Stellamycin. At the farm, Ridge finds the smoking gun.  BAP didn’t retrieve and destroy the leftover Stellamycin and workers at the farm broke protocol and used it as an udder wash for the milk cows, imparting low-level doses to some of the students.  Including Nigel’s daughter, who has had adverse reactions to the drug. Nigel realizes that this is the kind of cock up that kills people, including possibly his own daughter, but worse, it ruins reputations, destroys careers and breaks up relationships.  Yes, it seems Nigel has lost it all. But, all is well that ends mostly well.  There’s just one loose end:  Will Dr. Fay Chantry join Doomwatch? Quist, it seems, knew about her affair with Nigel from her security check, and intentionally sent her to BAP to get all that out of her system, because, you know, women!  Amirite? But it looks like Fay might be joining the team. Maybe. [/expand]